I encountered this pdf file that reviewed the potentiality of the internet as a venue for resistances and counter reactions to hegemonic understanding. It speaks of an organization, Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) and the media attention it received internationally. Its website featured a virtual space for voicing out their political views and it helped them gain financial support worldwide. We have to look at the conditions of possibilities that allowed this group surface in the virtual world.
beggar child in kabul
RAWA was born in 1977 to start the mobilization of women and push women’s rights and their sociopolitical stand in Afghanistan, basically its was their lives that they were fighting for. It remained underground to protect the members and supporters though continuously participating public demonstrations. It expressed its resistance against an extremist group known as Mujahideen or holy war warriors which was the same group that received US funding. Members of RAWA were jailed and some were tortured and killed. In 1986 there leader Meena was assassinated. They were a marginalized group in country with little political space to even operate. It was the launching of the website www.rawa.org that catapulted them and gave them a louder voice. The year was 1996 and within months of the same year, responses came via emails. Later, international observers turned supporters began raising funds for RAWA programs. Help flooded mostly form South Asia and Middle East, areas with great accessibility to the Internet.
Many of the over 70,000 war widows in Kabul make a living by begging in the streets accrdg. to rawa.org
It was Internet and the technology of electronic mail that served as stepping stones for the international growth of the organization. Members and supporters were able to connect to their international supporters both in virtual and safe public spaces. They were able to uphold their political views and solicit for financial support. The effects were substantial with the media coverage across the globe brought shifts in the sympathy and monetary support.
On a similar account are torrents sites that somewhat counter the hegemony of media conglomerates over movies, music, etc. Torrents are files shared by individual computers on the network rather than stored on one central server. You can download videos or even full length movies in minutes no matter what that is as long as it is shared. In these very grounds of freedom that torrent file sharing sites are being questioned and even sued by (who else?!) media companies that own the means of production for these media materials.
On a similar account are torrents sites that somewhat counter the hegemony of media conglomerates over movies, music, etc. Torrents are files shared by individual computers on the network rather than stored on one central server. You can download videos or even full length movies in minutes no matter what that is as long as it is shared. In these very grounds of freedom that torrent file sharing sites are being questioned and even sued by (who else?!) media companies that own the means of production for these media materials.
torrent are files shared by individual computers on the network rather than stored on one central server
Hollywood alone demands US$15.4 million in damages from The Pirate Bay. It is the most widely used BitTorrent trackers for music, software and movies. They mentioned Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Syriana, Pink Panther and other Hollywood produced movies have been unlawfully shared. It was Pink Panther that got the most popular searches and has been downloaded 49,593. Note: who wants Pink Panther twice in their playlist? Anyway, beyond copyright infringement they are also demanding a sum subject to interest, which will continue to grow, and damages for the “harm” Pirate Bay has made (Mikael Ricknäs, IDG News Service). It is one of the instances that some sites if not oppose, at least threatens the monopoly of media products.
pirate in the internet. YEAH!
The state is the one that primarily regulates the boundaries of what are tolerable and acceptable identities and events, specifically in the physical public sphere. This is why some resort to the cyberspace as a venue for resistance and expression.
Thus, cyberspace provides open flows of communication
and representation for subversive or counter-political groups. However, public
(physical) space remains an important aspect of political representation, resistance and action – for example, political groups cannot only operate solely through a virtual medium (D’Arcus, 2006)
The very existence of websites like utorrent, The Pirate Bay, Torrentzen, Bitsoup and many more develop pockets in the world wide web were cyber individuals can challenge the private ownership of media materials or even art.
These instances remind us that the arena of the internet can cater to a marginalized group or freedom even with the limiting factors present.
"On to what extent can you use the master’s tools to destroy the master’s house?"
–sarah raymundo
(on the use of liberal ideas to counter the present system)
Sources:
“Our Website Was Revolutionary”
Virtual Spaces of Representation
and Resistance
Jennifer L. Fluri1
Geography Department, Women’s and Gender Studies Program,
Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA
Hollywood Wants $15 Million From Pirate Bay
Mikael Ricknäs, IDG News Service
https://www.pcworld.com/bu
