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Convey Concerns to Decision
Makers
It can seem very difficult to track down who makes
decisions and how they are made. One useful strategy (developed by the
Ecumenical Coalition on Social Justice, formerly GATT-Fly) is called the
Ah-Hah! seminar. Based on "the assumption that people acquire a basic knowledge
of how the political and economic system works through their own lives and
experiences," this group process prompts people to map out the connections
between their day to day lives and decisions that affect them, literally
drawing a very large picture that links each level of activity and decisions.
Another way of finding out where and how decisions are made is
to "follow the gold." Find out where financial interests are, and what sources
of funding are supporting a particular initiative.
Although letters to political representatives may feel like a
very pedestrian means of conveying concern, the fact remains that this channel
of communication connects us directly with the political decision making forum
and we need to use it if we want to maintain healthy accountability. Experience
so far indicates that a written letter has better success in obtaining a
response than electronic communication.
There are also occasions when exposing decisions in well-timed
presentations to the media is useful; a recent example is the protest
surrounding cable companies' so-called "negative option billing," resulting in
a reversal of private sector policy and a change in public sector regulation.
Keep on Asking Questions
The questions at the end of each section in this paper can serve as
"starters" for further explorations related to new learning technologies and
women. You are invited to continue exploring the issues and to add questions of
your own.
Endnotes for Section Six
- John Ralston Saul, The Unconscious Civilization, CBC
Massey Lectures, Anansi, 1995, p.186.
- Kim Goldberg, The Barefoot Channel: Community Television
as a Tool for Social Change, New Star, Vancouver, 1990.
- John Stevenson, "The Silencing of a Democratic Medium: Early
Public Policy on Radio and the Regulation of the Internet," paper presented at
INET 1996; Michelle Martin, Hello Central? Gender, Technology and Culture in
the Formation of Telephone Systems, McGill-Queens, 1991.
- Dale Spender, "The Internet as a Networking Tool for Women,"
keynote address to the International Meeting of the Women's Network for
Vocational Education and Training in the Asia Pacific, July, 1996.
- Two books that offer guides to popular research are Rick
Arnold, Deborah Barndt and Bev Burke, A New Weave: Popular Education in
Canada and Central America, CUSO/OISE, 1985 and GATT-Fly, Ah-Hah, A New
Approach to Popular Education, Between the Lines, 1983.
- Heather Menzies, Whose Brave New World, pp.138, 139.
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland, Collins, p.209.
- Mark Surman, "Wired Words: Utopia, revolution and the
history of electronic highways," paper presented at INET 1996.
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