Asia’s Civil Spheres: New Media, Urban Public Space, Social Movements

Asian cities are some of the key sites where everyday life takes place and where new urban spaces and social practices are negotiated. Asia's Civil Spheres zooms in on creative re-imaginings of what 'political action' means in our Global Information Age and on how people continue to create worlds that are worth living in. Focusing on social and political activism as one particular area of cultural activities, the project examines how people use the Internet to spread thoughts and ideas, create and re-create meaningful institutions and social movements, and bring about legible social change. The Why (a.k.a. 'individual and shared aspirations/agency/activisms') and the Where ('space' and 'place') are adopted as equally important and mutually informing interpretive categories for understanding.

PI & Co-PI(s): Peter Marolt & Rita Padawangi