Bits and Atoms: Information and Communication Technology in Areas of Limited Statehood(Oxford Studies in Digital Politics)

Bits and Atoms explores the governance potential found in the explosive growth of digital information and communication technology in areas of limited statehood. Today, places with weak or altogether missing state institutions are tied internally and to the larger world by widely available digital technology. The chapters in the book explore questions of when and if the growth in digital technology can fill some of the governance vacuum created by the absence of an effective state. For example, mobile money could fill a gap in traditional banking or mobile phones could allow rural populations to pay for basic services and receive much needed advice and market pricing information. Yet, as potentially revolutionary as this technology can be to areas of limited statehood, it still faces limitations. Bits and Atoms is a thought-provoking look at the prospects for and limitations of digital technology to function in place of traditional state apparatuses.

Table of Contents:
Foreward Sina Odugbemi Chapter 1: Introduction Steven Livingston and Gregor Walter-Drop Part 1: Simulation, Consolidation, Opposition: ICT and Limited Statehood Chapter 2: Information Technology and the Limited States of the Arab Spring Muzammil M. Hussain and Philip N. Howard Chapter 3: The Kremlin's Cameras and Virtual Potemkin Villages: ICT and the Construction of Statehood Gregory Asmolov Chapter 4: E-government as a Means of Development in India J. P. Singh Chapter 5: ICT and Accountability in Areas of Limited Statehood Joseph Siegle Part 2: Substitution: ICT as a Tool for Non-State Governance Chapter 6: FrontlineSMS, Mobile-for-Development and the 'long tail' of governance Sharath Srinivasan Chapter 7: Natural Disasters and Alternative Modes of Governance: the Role of Social Networks and Crowdsourcing Platforms in Russia Gregory Asmolov Chapter 8: Mapping Kibera. Empowering Slum Residents by ICT Primo%z Kova?i? and Jamie Lundine Chapter 9: Crisis Mapping in Areas of Limited Statehood Patrick Meier Chapter 10: From Crowdsourcing to Crowdseeding: The Cutting Edge of Empowerment? Peter van der Windt Chapter 11: Conclusions Steven Livingston and Gregor Walter-Drop Notes References Index

About the Author :
Steven Livingston is Professor of Media and Public and International Affairs at the School of Public Affairs & Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University, and he is the author of When The Press Fails: Political Power and the News Media from Iraq to Katrina (Chicago, 2007), Clarifying the CNN Effect (Harvard, 1997), Terrorism Spectacle (Westview, 1994). Gregor Walter-Drop is the Managing Director of the Collaborative Research Center 700 "Governance in Areas of Limited Statehood" at Freie Universität Berlin

Review :
"This pathbreaking book brings an innovative group of scholars and practitioners together to explore ways in which information and communication technologies are addressing governance problems that occur when states fail to deliver basic services or provide acceptable levels of social order and public input. The diverse cases illustrate both the capacities and limits of communication technologies in building various forms of social and political organization. These studies cast a much needed light on the spectrum of political problems and creative possibilities that shape the lives of the majority of people living outside of functional democratic political regimes. The book adds significantly to how we think about governance, the role of technology in social and political organization, and the nature of political communication."-- W. Lance Bennett, Professor of Political Science and Ruddick C. Lawrence Professor of Communication, University of Washington "For readers versed in digital media and politics, this engaging book is about the rest of the world: Haiti, Nigeria, and other areas where states exercise limited authority. Through their special focus on such places, the contributors challenge assumptions about collective action. They show the power and limits of digital media to foster social action when authority is limited and collective goods are different than in well-functioning states. This is an innovative contribution to our understanding of collective action."--Bruce Bimber, Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara "Bits and Atoms makes significant contributions to multiple audiences. It is a must-read for development practitioners and students. If these dynamic chapters do not help them think of new, creative ways to harness the power of local voices, they are probably in the wrong field." - Perspectives on Politics