Abstract
The growth of the world-wide-web, and the revolution in information and communications technology of which it is a part, is an event of global historic significance, equivalent to the changes brought about by the industrial and agricultural revolutions of the 18 th and 19 th centuries. We are now living in a knowledge based world in which the internet is the core technological driver for knowledge storage, exchange and to a significant extent knowledge analysis and creation. The web is also a contested space, meaning that the values and ideas it generates and transmits are not neutral but have significant impact on how we live our lives. New forms of militarisation (cyberwar) and exploitation (cybercrime) are enabled by web technology and it can be argued that these darker aspects are in danger of becoming a dominating characteristic. This article explores the ways in which the web can be used to enhance capacities for creative peacebuilding though new forms of cyberpeace, which complement and extend the range of the traditional modes of conflict resolution while putting human agency – the choices and decisions of people – at the centre of the project to generate a global peace culture.
Highlights
The growth of the World Wide Web, and the revolution in information and communications technology of which it is a part, is an event of global historic significance, equivalent to the changes brought about by the industrial and agricultural revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries
“Suppose all the information stored on computers everywhere were linked, I thought
There would be a single global information space.” (Berners-Lee, 2000, p. 4). These words were written by Tim Berners Lee to explain the hopes he had at the point when he ‘invented’ the World Wide Web, following his paper outlining the concept in 1989 and his design of the first world wide website, in December 1990
Summary
“Suppose all the information stored on computers everywhere were linked, I thought. Suppose I could programme my computer to create a space in which anything could be linked to anything. The third set of examples provides a comprehensive database of knowledge on how peace agreements are constructed and how violent conflicts can be transformed non-violently, in the form of the Peace Accords Matrix at the University of Notre Dame and the Nonviolent and Violent Campaigns and Outcomes (NAVCO) Data Project at the University of Denver, which compares the effectiveness of violent with nonviolent campaigns These are only a small sample of what is available to policy makers, peacemakers, peacekeepers, NGO activists, journalists, educators and researchers, in a way which was unimaginable twenty years ago. Two other prominent examples are Say No to Violence, a social-mobilization platform established in 2009 and connected to UNiTE and Bem Querer Mulher (Cherish Women), supported by UN Women [...] new ICTs are routinely emerging that explore ways of enhancing the protection of women and girls from violence in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, and elsewhere.” (Mancini, 2013, pp. 37-38)
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