Post on 22-Feb-2016
description
Networked Global Problem Solving in international conflicts
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*“Social media has transformed our democratic institutions in such a way that what takes place in the more traditional institutions of power (…) has become almost a sideshow"
Grimsson, president of Iceland
*Global networks of engament
*Global networks
*The internet can be seen as an analogy as well as a medium for global networks. *Facebook connects more than 900 million people
worldwide *Conscious engagement through trade, internet,
social movements*Unconsciously interconnected: “My life, my body,
my individual existence become part of another world, of foreign cultures, religions, histories and global interdependencies without my realizing or expressly wishing it” (Beck)
*Networked global problem solving
*Climate change, terrorism, inequality etc.. are global in their scope and thus require global solutions. *The system of international institutions in
place to address these issues is based on national self-interest and seems incongruent with the scale and severity of contemporary global challenges.*Can global networks provide a new arena
for global problem-solving? *Tapscott: “We are in the early days of an
explosion of new, networked models to solve global problems”
*Can this work in internatonal conflicts?
*Kan dette virke i internationale konflikter?
*3 examples
*Kony 2012
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*Avaaz
*Israel-Loves-Iran
*“I'm not an official representative of my country. I’m a father and a teacher. I know the streets of my town, I talk with my neighbors, my family, my students, my friends and in the name of all these people …we love you”
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*Optimal conditions for NGPS to be applicable in conflict transformation:*Global consciousness*Global responsibility*Global network culture
*Global consciousness
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*Paradoxical curiosity
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*Global Responsibility
* “everybody is free to do whatever they want as long as they do not violate the rights of their fellow countrymen”
Is this enough?
*Global responsible action
*The affect of ones actions cannot be predicted*One cannot act responsibly if one is not aware*Responsibility: A readiness to respond to the challenges one is aware of and to that which is higher
*Eros and agape
*Global network culture
*Culture of contributingA paradigm of ”giving” vs. A paradigm of
”self-interest” *Culture of collaborationA new way of coming together and
collaborating beyond ego*Culture of peaceLet go of enemy images and go to the
root of the problem
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*Second tier approach
*Kony2012“We share what we love and it reminds us what we all have in common”
*Avaaz
*“close the gap between the world we have and the world most people everywhere want”*“global public opinion is the new super power, if people lead the leaders will follow” *“we are all human beings first, and privileged with responsibilities to each other, to future generations, and to the planet”
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“there is some nationality which is called humanity, there is some religion which is called love” Majid
*Global consciousness
*Lack of ability to embrace complexity*Kony: enemy image, simplifies the
situation, lack empathy/respect for local context*Israel-Loves-Iran: ”Peace is a simple
process” What is peace???*Avaaz: enemy images, one interview
person; ”high level of global consciousness”.
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*Global network culture
*Fail going to the root of the problem!*Kony: focus on one person rather than the
system*Avaaz: lack of focus, based on western
mass-media*Israel-Loves-Iran: no focus on Palestine
*Change?
*Pogge: it does not change the global system*Singer: it does not change behaviour
*Slacktivism
*Morozov: “given enough tweets the world’s problems are solvable” *People become lacy if they think they can
change the world through a click
*Networked symbolic action
*Challenging pluralistic ignorance*Symbolic action
*Different levels of change
*Cultural change
*“because of the zeitgeist of the culture in the world we needed an enemy” *“let’s suppose we made a movie that’s
better than the Kony-movie – really gets to the heart of the matter – and suppose that it went viral and reached a 100 million people, and these 100 million people say, they learned a lesson and said we have to be united, no more amateurish ‘every person for himself” *Avaaz: Create confidence in humanity and
empower people to create change*Kony: gave rise to worldwide discussions *Israel-Loves-Iran: affect relationships
*Conclusion
*NGPS: not good at solving a specific conflict*But applicable for changing culture