[eccr] ESRC Seminar Series - Critical Perspectives on the WSIS

ESRC Seminar Series - Critical Perspectives on the World Summit on the 
Information Society: Civil Society Participation and Issues
Date: 2004-2005
Location: Oxford Internet Institute, 1 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3JS
ESRC-Seminar-Series
Critical Perspectives on the World Summit on the Information Society: Civil 
Society Participation and Issues

The Oxford Internet Institute has received a grant from the ESRC to hold 
four seminars and one small conference focusing on civil society 
participation in the World Summit on the Information Society. Four events 
will be held in the run up to the 2nd summit in November 2005. A final 
seminar will be held early in 2006, to allow for an informed and reflective 
discussion of the whole WSIS process.
Rationale and Approach

Effective governance of the Internet requires the participation of all 
those involved in related social, economic and technical developments. This 
international seminar series, organised by the Oxford Internet Institute, 
aims to support and reflect on civil society participation in global 
debates about the development of the information society by enabling 
informed dialogues between representatives of civil society and academia, 
together with other stakeholders. It will focus particularly on civil 
society participation in the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society 
(WSIS) in Tunis, sponsored by UNESCO and the International 
Telecommunication Union.

By reflecting critically on the effectiveness of the ways various civil 
society groups articulate and represent their interests in global arenas, 
the seminars hope to cast light on the dynamics of power and accountability 
shaping outcomes within global policy forums. They will draw on the 
knowledge of participants and past experience of civil society 
participation in decision-making and a variety of summits, including WSIS 
2003, to help increase understanding of the complex network of issues 
relating to information society developments, such as their potential 
contribution to sustainable development, social justice and other civil 
society objectives as well as their role in civil society organising and 
lobbying.


An Invitation to Participate: Call for Papers

Seminar: Reflecting on the Civil Society Agenda
10 December 2004
Oxford Internet Institute, 1 St Giles Oxford OX1 3JS

The 2003 World Summit of the Information Society (Geneva, 2003) generated a 
'Civil Society' declaration that emphasized a commitment to: "building 
information and communication societies that are people-centred, inclusive 
and equitable", defined by a set of more specific principles. How are these 
broad aims being translated into specific policy goals relating to such 
areas as access, connectivity, and content regulation? Are these principles 
and the policies they subsume enabling a productive (or conflictual) 
engagement with other stakeholders in the process? Why did some civil 
society groups who would share the declaration's aims decide not to 
participate in the WSIS process?
These are some of the questions we want to reflect on in this 
agenda-setting seminar. We welcome contributions from civil society groups 
who participated in the debates and those who stayed away. We also welcome 
contributions from academics and policy makers who can reflect on civil 
society groups' ability to shape agendas and discourses, and influence 
outcomes either in relation to WSIS or other international decision making 
forums (e.g. WTO or Earth Summits).
Please send papers to <mailto:(esrc /at/ oii.ox.ac.uk)>(esrc /at/ oii.ox.ac.uk)
For further information about the rationale behind the seminars please see 
the wsis-esrc research section. (http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/research/?rq=esrc)


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Carpentier Nico (Phd)
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Katholieke Universiteit Brussel - Catholic University of Brussels
Vrijheidslaan 17 - B-1081 Brussel - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-412.42.78
F: ++ 32 (0)2/412.42.00
Office: 4/0/18
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Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University of Brussels
Centre for Media Sociology (CeMeSO)
Pleinlaan 2 - B-1050 Brussels - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-629.18.30
F: ++ 32 (0)2-629.28.61
Office: C0.05
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European Consortium for Communication Research
Web: http://www.eccr.info
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E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ kubrussel.ac.be)
Web: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
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