Global Voices » Solana Larsen

A Social Network for Wikileaks Supporters

Solana Larsen — Mon, 28 May 2012 12:13:07 +0000

Friends of Wikileaks (FoWL) is an independent social network for worldwide supporters of Wikileaks. People who join the site are paired with twelve others who speak the same language. FoWL groups from different countries have issued a statement of support for Julian Assange in advance of a United Kingdom supreme court judgement on May 30, 2012.

Video: Media Portrayals of Cities in the Global South

Solana Larsen — Mon, 28 May 2012 11:07:37 +0000

How do international media represent cities in South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East? Is it fair or helpful to development? A symposium of scholars from the London School of Economics in London, United Kingdom explore this topic. See video.

Global Voices Seeks New Japanese Editor

Solana Larsen — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:08:28 +0000

Global Voices is seeking a part-time Editor to oversee our ongoing coverage of Japanese-language citizen media.

The Editor will direct the Japanese-language coverage on Global Voices in English and recruit and coordinate volunteer contributions.

The Editor will produce and/or edit several in-depth stories per week, as well as shorter posts linking and pointing to important topics, events, and writing as it occurs. The work will involve translation, analysis, and editing, to elucidate and identify trends, ideas, and social and political currents within East Asian citizen media.

The Editor will be chiefly responsible for providing as broad and complete coverage as possible of citizen media of Japanese-language media, as follows:

Recruiting: recruiting authors to cover the countries in their region; for managing authors’ output and editing and publishing posts; and maintaining a regional Google Group.

Posting to the Global Voices web site:

• 4-6 posts per week. These can either be written by volunteer authors or the Editor, in recognition of the fact that some posts (especially those which need to be translated) require substantial editing.

• 5-10 “updates” per week. These posts can also either be written by volunteer authors or the Editor. They are short and typically include only one link.
Special coverage: In times of emergency, posting as much as possible, as soon as possible, as needed.

Our Japanese team also sometimes works with translators of the Global Voices in Japanese website to exchange ideas and collaborate on stories.

Interested candidates please send CV and Letter of Interest explaining why you'd be a good candidate for the job to: adminjob AT globalvoicesonline DOT org

We will be accepting applications through May 28, 2012.

See our vacancies page for other current opportunities with Global Voices.

Global Voices Partners with International Relations and Security Network (ISN)

Solana Larsen — Mon, 07 May 2012 10:11:14 +0000

Global Voices and the International Relations and Security Network (ISN) in Switzerland have launched a partnership to seek out citizen voices on international relations and security issues worldwide.

The stories written by selected Global Voices authors on different continents will be published on the ISN blog and on Global Voices the second week of every month for the next year. Additionally, ISN has commissioned Global Voices Lingua translations in Spanish, French and Arabic of each post.

The ISN, a project of the Center for Security Studies (ETH), is one of the world’s leading open access information services for international relations and security professionals.

On our part we are thrilled to be reaching a specialist audience of international security professionals with online citizen voices on issues that often go unreported in international media.

Another new ISN blog partner is Project Syndicate, who will be supplying commentary from high level international scholars and analysts, also according to a monthly calendar.

For more information about the ISN, click here.

All articles published for this partnership will be collected on our new special coverage page: International Relations and Security.

Global Voices in Bulgarian Lauded on World Press Freedom Day

Solana Larsen — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:39:07 +0000

Global Voices in Bulgarian was lauded by the Bulgarian section of the Association of European Journalists as the April 2012 winners of “Excellence in Citizen Journalism” for bringing unheard international news to Bulgaria, and proving that citizen journalism also exists at a highly professional level. The announcement (in Bulgarian) was made on World Press Freedom Day, on May 3.

Do Arab Men Hate Women? Mona Eltahawy Faces Firestorm

Solana Larsen — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:22:27 +0000

Egyptian-American columnist Mona Eltahawy has once again sparked controversy with an article in Foreign Policy magazine on April 23, 2012, entitled “Why Do They Hate Us?” about discrimination against women in the Middle East. Eltahawy argues that Arab societies are fundamentally misogynistic and that endless abuses against women, “fueled by a toxic mix of culture and religion” take place.

Many Arab journalists, bloggers and activists have criticized the way Eltahawy frames her arguments, and expressed anger at the images accompanying the article of a nude woman in black body-paint resembling a niqab, arguing these are stereotypical depictions of Arab women.

Foreign Policy has since published responses by five commentators.

Mona Eltahawy. Photo by personaldemocracy Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Eltahawy writes in the article:

Some may ask why I'm bringing this up now, at a time when the region has risen up, fueled not by the usual hatred of America and Israel but by a common demand for freedom. After all, shouldn't everyone get basic rights first, before women demand special treatment? And what does gender, or for that matter, sex, have to do with the Arab Spring? But I'm not talking about sex hidden away in dark corners and closed bedrooms. An entire political and economic system - one that treats half of humanity like animals - must be destroyed along with the other more obvious tyrannies choking off the region from its future. Until the rage shifts from the oppressors in our presidential palaces to the oppressors on our streets and in our homes, our revolution has not even begun.

In a post entitled “Mona: Why Do You Hate Us?”, Egyptian activist and blogger Gigi Ibrahim writes:

The fundamental problem of Mona’s essay is the context and framework of how she analyzes why women in the Middle East are oppressed and the only reason she could give is because men and Arab societies (culturally and religiously) hate women. This is offensive to most women I know, who read the article and shared the same view. Women in the Middle East are not oppressed by men out of male dominance, they are oppressed by regimes (who happened to be men in power) and systems of exploitation (which exploit based on class not gender). Having women in power in a flawed system will not “fix” the problem either. We had a women’s quota in Mubarak’s parliament, did that change anything for women in reality? It was all ink on paper. Even after revolution, women are consistently used for political grounds by crony political parties. Explaining why women are oppressed without touching on any of the historical, political, or economical aspects of Arab countries, which are not all the same as she tends to generalize in her article, couldn’t be more delusional than this piece.

Hafsa Halawa in Egypt is not completely against the article:

@Hhafoos: Whilst I disagree w her tone & I certainly don't agree w pictures used, there are facts in Mona Eltahawy's article we can't ignore anymore

Syrian-born Palestinian journalist Dima Khatib also takes issue in a post in her blog, “Love, Not Hatred, Dear Mona!”:

We are not weak, Mona, and the Arab revolutions have proved to us that we are stronger than we thought, and the heroines of the Arab revolutions don’t need to be pointed out. I don’t think we need saviors from the hatred and vengeance of our men, especially since the revolutions have proved that we are more than able to stand shoulder to shoulder with men to achieve progress for our societies. Your article paints a picture of the Arab society that matches the images of the article: black, bleak, depressing, a painted black body. You have reduced the problem of the Arab woman to the feelings of men; while she was reduced to pathetic images which perfectly represent the images the West have of her. […] Arab society is not as barbaric as you present it in the article, which enhances the stereotype of us in the reader's mind, and it is a stereotype which is frighteningly widespread, and contributes to the widening cultural rift between our society and other societies, and the increase of racism towards us.

Lebanese-American journalist and blogger Roqayah Chamseddine commented in a post entitled “Us and Them: On Helpless Women and Orientalist Imagery”:

Not only has Eltahawy demonized the men of the Middle East and confined them into one role, that of eternal tormentors, as her Western audience claps and cheers, she has not provided a way forward for these men. Are they eternally damned? Is this their own manifest destiny, one which has been predetermined at the point of conception? Do they have no way out of the sweeping accusation which brands them as natural haters of women? What of male feminists, are they forever struggling against their innate urge to hate women? Mona Eltahawy has penned both men and women into a non-negotiable situation, charging men with hatred and women with helplessness; and as a woman of colour, of Middle Eastern origin, I will not allow my voice to be co-opted. Mona Eltahawy may be one of us, but she is not “us” nor does she define us.

Egyptian human rights activist Hossam Bahgat tweeted:

@hossambahgat: “Muslims hate their women” is no different from “Muslims are essentially violent”. what a great disservice to our fight

In a post called “I don't really think they hate us!”, assistant professor of journalism Nahed Eltantawy referred to “the empowered Arab women of the Arab Spring”:

When I look at these Arab heroines, who have made their people proud, I don't see hate. I see love, compassion and understanding between young men and women who are willing to work together to create better lives, more freedoms and more just governments for everyone. So, to Eltahawy, I say that your column does not represent me as I don't feel hated. I do have concerns, which might be similar or different to my sisters in Egypt. But I'm confident that whatever social, cultural, political and economic problems I personally face, these are challenges that can be fought instead of simply blaming them on misogyny.

Ayesha Kazmi, who blogs as American Paki, was disappointed at the way Eltahawy's article “spectacularly splintered feminism”:

To claim that the “real war on women is in the Middle East” stakes the legitimacy of Arab women in the war against women, that I view as a global phenomenon not unique to Arab women, while leaving millions of non-Arab women, also victims of systemic misogyny, to fend for themselves. Mona has dangerously isolated non-Arab women from a war that is global. If Mona wanted to specifically address the plight of Arab women, she should have done so without appropriating the entire war as uniquely her own. Take the greater Muslim world for example, could she honestly look an Afghani or Pakistani woman in the eyes and read the title of this piece to them without recoiling?

US-based Middle East scholar Shadi Hamid ‏commented:

@shadihamid: Whatever you think abt @monaeltahawy's piece, says a lot that the very ppl she's trying to “liberate” seem to mostly disagree w her.

This post was written with input from the Global Voices Middle East and North Africa team.

Global Voices Podcast Wins Top Ranking in European Podcast Award

Solana Larsen — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:00:50 +0000

The Global Voices Podcast produced by Jamillah Knowles in London was named the United Kingdom winner in the non-profit category of the 2011 European Podcast Awards. Hundreds of podcasts from 11 countries in four categories were nominated.

Global Voices ‘Europe in Crisis' Coverage Shortlisted for Award

Solana Larsen — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:29:18 +0000

Thanks to the work of dedicated volunteers, Global Voices special coverage of “Europe in Crisis” has been named a national winner for the European Charlemagne Youth Prize. The final winners for all of Europe will be announced in Aachen, Germany in May 2012. The award aims to encourage a European consciousness among young people.

NATO Invites to Citizen Dialogue on New Website

Solana Larsen — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 09:42:55 +0000

A new website, WE-NATO, invites to citizen dialogue on issues related to the agenda of the intergovernmental military alliance, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Website contributors include senior members of NATO leadership, including a video blog by the General Secretary and a live webchat with the Assistant Secretary General for NATO’s Public Diplomacy to mark International Women's Day on March 8, 2012.

Online Chat with Angelina Jolie About Bosnian War Film

Solana Larsen — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:10:49 +0000

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, will be answering questions in a live online chat on January 12, 2012 (8pm EST) about the new film she wrote and directed about the Bosnian war, “In the Land of Blood and Honey”. Questions can be submitted in advance on the Facebook page for the film.

Competition to Develop Low-Cost Water Purification Device

Solana Larsen — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:44:22 +0000

Inventors, designers, entrepreneurs from developing countries are invited by the University of South Florida's Patel Center to submit ideas for the creation of a “Smart Pot” that can purify water easily and has a similar shape as a traditional jerrycan. Winning proposals will receive up to $8,000 plus the opportunity to compete for a grand prize of $100,000.

Global Voices Most Read Posts in 2011

Solana Larsen — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:46:50 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Global Voices in 2011.

Our top 20 list of most read posts on Global Voices for 2011 includes four from Japan, three from Egypt, and two from the Philippines. But only one story is about a giant crocodile!

It's been an incredible year for the reach and recognition of citizen media around the world, and that means Global Voices is no longer as lonely a media voice when it comes to reporting tweets and blog posts. Still, where mainstream media interest wanes, we're the ones who strive to continue documenting what local bloggers everywhere need the world to know.

Self Defence Forces arrive at the scene of the tsunami in Japan. Image by cosmobot, copyright Demotix (13/03/11).

Some of our proudest moments of 2011 will never be reflected on a top 20 list like the one below. This year we exceeded 500 active volunteer authors and translators of countless languages and countries, and we've published more than 2,600 long posts and 6,300 short ones in English alone.

Inevitably, many of the stories that don't get as wide a readership as they deserve are from countries that tend to be overlooked in international media. Unique coverage from across Africa, the Caucasus, Macedonia, the Russian language Internet, Latin America and indigenous rights are among some of the highlights. See the 2011 regional reviews by our editors and authors for a glance of what you may have missed.

Our Middle East and North Africa team deserves special mention this year. Throughout protests, blackouts, threats, they have managed to pull though and keep writing. The bloody images still proliferate, but our authors seek out constructive voices and angles for dialogue. So often, they've shared local humor and context that is difficult to appreciate from abroad without a guide.

Perhaps for the first time ever, China doesn't figure on our top 20 list of the year. These are particularly chilling times to blog about controversial subjects - something Global Voices authors in many other countries unfortunately also experience. This makes the stories that do come from anywhere free speech is frowned on even more precious.

Most read posts on Global Voices in 2011

Our most visited special coverage pages were:

In 2011 the world has learned more about the transformative power of online citizen media. We believe the best way to support these emerging voices on a global scale is to listen. Thanks for reading Global Voices! And please consider supporting our work with a donation.

This post is part of our special coverage Global Voices in 2011.

United Kingdom: Video from Hitchens' 1999 U.S. Book Tour

Solana Larsen — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:22:05 +0000

“Hitch Hike” is a 53-min documentary by Palash Davé about British writer Christopher Hitchens’ 1999 U.S. tour promoting his book about Bill Clinton. The full film is available for viewing on Vimeo (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). Hitchens died on December 15, 2011.

Mexico: Applications Open for The School of Authentic Journalism 2012

Solana Larsen — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:22:24 +0000

Narco News are accepting applications in English and Spanish until December 28, 2011 from media makers, journalists, bloggers, and activists from any country for The School of Authentic Journalism. This is an annual workshop on journalism, media and civil resistance movements. The 2012 session will be taking place in Mexico from March 21-31, 2012.

United States: What Your Kids Talk About on Facebook

Solana Larsen — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:41:43 +0000

For the online exhibition “Voices of Motherhood” by the International Museum of Women, Kathy Halper in the U.S. was inspired by the experience of “friending” her own daughter on Facebook to embroider copies of photos posted by teenagers on the social network. The embroideries show drunken parties, sexual innuendo, and raunchy humor.