| This work provides a theoretical and practical basis for my fundamental premise and conclusion. That is, without a sense of human connection in "real-time," commitments to social justice campaigns may become compromised. This is because off-line communication engenders a sense of responsibility to group goals that is hard to acquire in the absence of some minimal amount of human contact. Cybernetic political spaces aimed at altering systems of oppression in an information age must include a presence in both on-line and off-line political spaces. Global capitalism's project of erasing and delegitimating material reality also serves to increase the need for at least some degree of face-to-face real time connections in political and social justice cyber struggles. Although in every human community there is always a combination of personal, political, spiritual, and cultural elements that are necessary for the viability of any community, virtual or otherwise, the focus of this work is cyberpolitical and cultural communities of action . That is, their primary reason for existence as communities are a collective commitment to changing material reality. These cybercommunities of action are interested in improving the quality of human existence. I argue that they are two sides of a coin, distinctive yet inseparable . Three cybernetic communities of action are examined: the Zapatista National Liberation Army, the Mexican Solidarity Network, and MoveOn.Org. This participant ethnographic study spans the last 16 years. |
