Evgeny Morozov

Internetsceptic Evgeny Morozov is coming to Amsterdam on occasion of the Dutch translation of his book To Save Everything, Click Here. The Folly of Technological Solutionism. Morozov will speak and debate with other guestspeakers. About Evgeny Morozov
Evgeny Morozov started his career as a young man who was optimistic about thepossibilities of the internet. He changed his mind however: now he can be described as someone who is reluctant about the democratizing and liberating capacities of the internet. He grew up in Belarus, one of the former Sovjet republics. 'Not exactly an oasis of liberal democracy,' as he claims. He became fascinated by the idea of opening up authoritarian states through the possibilities of the Internet . When he was seventeen he started studying Business and Marketing at the American University in Bulgaria, thanks to financial support of the Open Society Institute founded by biljonair George Soros. Doubt
After graduation Morozov started working with non-for-profit organization Transitions Online (TOL). TOL tries to promote democracy in post-communist countries in Eastern-Europe and Central-Asia through new media. His employer was very enthusiastic, but Morozov started questioning the democratizing possibilities of new media . His doubt first rose within in him after the protests in Moldova, which he described (as one of the first) as a 'Twitter-revolution'. When the protests weakened, it appeared there weren't as many revolutionary Twitterers as was initially assumed. Other forms of communication, such as the good ol' telephone, were as important. And dictatorships didn't crumble as easily as hoped. 'On the contrary, those who survived the challenge of the Internet, became even more repressive,' Morozov discovered. His internet dream was shattered. Delusion
Once recovered from his deception, he quit his job at TOL and started researching how the Internet can have a negative effect on democratization. This resulted in The Net Delusion (2011), that he wrote during a fellowship at Georgetown University in Washington. He wrote many articles, who were published in The Washington Post, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and Slate. (source: Tegenlicht) Referents: Hans de Zwart (Bits of Freedom), Linnet Taylor (Madam Curie research fellow) and Dimitri Tokmetzis (De Correspondent).
Moderator: Maurits Martijn (journalist)
  This is a program of De Balie (Rik Seveke) and Uitgeverij De Wereld. >> klik hier voor de Nederlandse tekst To watch the episode of Tegenlicht, a Dutch television show, (September 2011) about Evgeny Morozov, click here!
Aanbevolen literatuur:
      To Save Everything, Click Here
auteur: Evgeny Morozov Our society is at a crossroads. Smart technology is transforming our world, making many aspects of our lives more convenient, efficient and – in some cases – fun. Better and cheaper sensors can now be embedded in almost everything… lees meer Bestel dit boek