1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910550150603321

Autore

Brescia Ray

Titolo

The future of change : how technology shapes social revolutions / / Ray Brescia

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Ithaca, NY : , : Cornell University Press, , [2020]

©2020

ISBN

1-5017-4812-2

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (1 online resource)

Disciplina

303.40973

Soggetti

Equality - United States - History

Social movements - United States - History

Social change - United States - History

Technological innovations - Social aspects - United States - History

Electronic books.

United States Social conditions 1945-

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Preface -- Abbreviations -- INTRODUCTION: Making Social Change Happen -- 1. Medium -- 2. Network -- 3. Message -- 4. The Great Divide -- 5. Digital Organizing -- 6. Amending the Violence Against Women Act -- 7. Marriage Equality in Maine -- 8. A Living Wage in Long Beach -- 9. Putting the Matrix to Work -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

In The Future of Change, Ray Brescia identifies a series of "social innovation moments" in American history. Through these moments-during which social movements have embraced advances in communications technologies-he illuminates the complicated, dangerous, innovative, and exciting relationship between these technologies, social movements, and social change. Brescia shows that, almost without fail, developments in how we communicate shape social movements, just as those movements change the very technologies themselves. From the printing press to the television, social movements have leveraged communications technologies to advance change. In this moment of rapidly evolving communications, it's imperative to



assess the role that the Internet, mobile devices, and social media can play in promoting social justice. But first we must look to the past, to examples of movements throughout American history that successfully harnessed communications technology, thus facilitating positive social change. Such movements embraced new communications technologies to help organize their communities; to form grassroots networks in order to facilitate face-to-face interactions; and to promote positive, inclusive messaging that stressed their participants' shared dignity and humanity. Using the past as prologue, The Future of Change provides effective lessons in the use of communications technology so that we can have the best communicative tools at our disposal-both now and in the future.