Mission
The Meta-Activism Project (MAP) is a non-traditional think tank
dedicated to the study of digital activism.
Digital activism is the use of digital technology by citizens to achieve social and political change. We pursue our mission of improving understanding of this phenomenon by building human and informational infrastructure: we weave human networks of activists and scholars and create informational resources like our global data set (see below). Our motivating question is: “How are we creating knowledge about digital activism and how can we do so more effectively?” The ultimate goal of these activities is to make digital activism a more effective means of achieving a transparent, democratic, and participatory global society.
Who are the people that make up the Meta-Activism Project? Learn more about our Strategy Group and Advisors here.
Projects
The Global Digital Activism Data Set (GDADS)
The goal of this project is to turn qualitative case studies of digital activism from around the world into a non-proprietary quantitative machine-readable data set that will facilitate the work of scholars in this new field.
To download the current copy of the case study list and to read more about the project and how you can get involved visit meta-activism.org/data-set.
Essential Readings in Digital Activism
This list of books, academic journal articles, newspaper and magazine articles, blog posts, and films is a resource for the study and instruction of digital activism at the undergraduate and graduate level and for anyone wishing to educate themselves about digital activism. Many of the entries have links that allow readers to access the resources on line for free. To see the resources list visit http://www.meta-activism.org/resources.
The Blog
We seek to highlight and analyze key trends and new insights about the global phenomenon of digital activism and we are always looking for new writers. You can visit the blog at
http://www.meta-activism.org/blog and can contact Mary at [Mary AT meta-activism DOT org]
if you are interested in contributing.
Book: Digital Activism Decoded
This anthology of essays is the first book to map the field of digital activism. Beginning with technical infrastructure and the economic, social, and political contexts of digital activism, the book also addresses the types of digital activism practices and effects and the different perceptions of digital activism’s value.
The books is available for free download under a Creative Commons license (download PDF) and for sale on Amazon (purchase page). For more information, including a table of contents, visit meta-activism.org/book.
Support Our Work
The Meta-Activism Project welcomes financial and in-kind support from non-governmental and educational organizations, private foundations, and individuals, but accepts no funding of any kind from any government. Members of the Meta-Activism Project who accept government support for consulting and research do so as individuals and not as representatives of this organization. A complete list of our funders and in-kind supporters is below:
- The Open Society Institute‘s Health Media Initiative (small grant)
- The Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University (in-kind research support)
- The MacArthur Research Network on Youth and Participatory Politics (in-kind research support)
