30 YEARS OF DEMOCRACY AND THE GREAT CULTURAL CHANGE

By Mempo Giardinelli

Norma Árevalo and Ramona Castillo who married on April 9, 2010, the first lesbian couple to do so.

If somebody in the early 80s had prophesied what was going to happen in this country, nobody would have believed it. We are 37 years since the coup (1976) and 30 since regaining democracy (1983) and it all seems so long ago and at the same time so very up close. Today there is little left of what defined this country three decades ago. Thus neither the Concorde supersonic aircraft nor the Soviet Union exist anymore; both the Berlin Wall and South African apartheid have tumbled; Ronald Reagan, George Bush father and son, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and various Chinese leaders with tricky names who look like clones of Chairman Mao are long gone from power. Meanwhile in Argentina Raúl Alfonsín, Carlos Menem, Fernando de la Rúa and a welter of ephemeral and unelected presidents before Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner have all held office. But one word has persisted — the missing. Of which the pain has remained as a trademark of this country. And other symbols, equally powerful, have remained — memory, truth and justice. Memory is not governed by reason but by emotion. We have no choice but to live there — not passively but actively with memory as a motor, not an anchor. So that it can teach us the life of the future and not let the past leave us paralyzed with fear. Oblivion is always the logic of the lie. Those who propose decreeing full stops and reconciliation, here or anywhere, are in a way lying, and thus making it more difficult to construct hope. With the distance of 30 years from the start of the great national mutation (the equivalent of at least two generations) we can repeat that cliché about democracy being the most imperfect system of government except for all the others. But it must also be said that even an imperfectly practiced democracy can also be revolutionary. The changes with the most impact in Argentina have been cultural. It is true that the country’s industry was destroyed in the 1990s and rebuilt (in part) in the course of this new century as it is also true that soy now represents what wheat did before while meat is almost exclusively for domestic consumption. But the culture, by which I mean civic conduct, is what has changed most in this country, rapidly and even impressively. And it does no harm to celebrate that. That is why there is no point in this article lingering over what is obvious — the phenomenal take-off of the arts in Argentina — cinema, literature, theatre, dance and music today are all coming on splendidly in a context of freedom without censorship. That is marvelous — Argentine creative energy is passing through one of its best moments. But the main cultural change seems to lie in the new paradigms. For example, the inescapable fact that people today watch less television. Argentines today watch a lot less television than some years ago. Television no longer informs (or misinforms) the younger generations. It would be tricky to go into the exact reasons for this decline but I think that various causes converge — the quality of the productions; the diversity on offer from cable (you can see 200 channels at home whereas the Argentina of 30 years ago was stuck with four), the heyday of electronic gadgets, computers, the digital world, mobile phones, nanotechnology, in a word, that cybernetic universe which astonishes us daily. That change is beyond doubt healthy and, in my opinion, a revolution in itself. Those elegant ladies who previously lunched on television before a starving country now seem exotic creatures with low ratings. As do those journalists nostalgic for the dictatorship who try to pass themselves off as builders of democracy but only discredit themselves. Seen in this light, these are mainly cultural triumphs which have been achieved by Argentine democracy in the past 30 years. Taken and adapted from: http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/140652/30-years-of-democracy-and-the-great-cultural-change

AFTER READING:

1. What changes are mentioned in the text? 2. Do you know the author? Do you agree with all the ideas of the text? 3. Can you mention other cultural changes that have occurred in the last 30 years?

4. What is e-democracy? Have you ever heard this concept?

The future of democracy will be highly influenced by ICT. How do you imagine that influence? +

In fact, it is happening right now… Let’s analyze the following cases:

Case 1: Minnesota E-Democracy. Can ICT change how democracies function?

Information Communication Technology (ICT) provides new ways for governments and citizens to interact. For example, ICT has empowered citizens with alternative means for them to organize themselves, make their voices heard, and hold governments accountable. We must work hard to secure the benefits of ICTs in decision-making, government transparency and government accountability.

Technology is naturally used for private connections within our families and within our circle of friends. We hear a lot about e-commerce and online entertainment and other possibilities. Now it is time to consider "public" uses that go beyond our important private lives. The use of technology continues to focus on privately oriented individual and business transaction services without consideration of the potential of "representative e-government”. We need to develop technologies and methods that ensure that citizens are heard by our representatives in the noisy information age.

Back in 1994, when I was 24 years old, I sent out a simple e-mail. I sent it to group of people interested in online community networking. I asked - who would be interested in putting candidates for U.S. Senate and Governor in Minnesota on this new thing called World Wide Web? I also asked - who would be interested in organizing a public e-mail list, an online discussion, where people could discuss the elections? The volunteer response was amazing. Early "e-citizens," as I call them, came from everywhere to help build the world's first election-oriented web site.

Here are three lessons we have learned over the years: 1. Citizens can make a difference in politics with new technologies. 2. Discussions of state and local issues will continue after the elections are over. In fact, the quality of discussion improves once citizens can focus on issues and not just electoral politics.. 3. Agenda-setting is key. Generating public opinion through many-to-many communication is a unique strength that ICTs bring to democracy and community.

Today, Minnesota E-Democracy, is a non-profit NGO, volunteer-based organization, which helps people navigate political, government, and election information from across Minnesota. Our citizen-to-citizen and citizen with government online discussions prove the democratizing potential of the Internet is not just a myth.

Let's be realistic. If you go on the internet today, 99 percent of the political discussion you will find is disconnected junk, our discussions in Minnesota are only half junk. The miracle is that at least half of our discussion has real value. Our organization's mission is to learn about that and build upon that value.

Complete speech by Steven Clift available at http://www.publicus.net/articles/today.html

Case 2: Democracy & civic participation in Argentina

How will this project solve this problem? Engagement of the civil society in the country's issues is key to create a future and build more democracy, therefore we will offer a platform where people can get involved and engage with different topics. The project will be executed with many small actions going around the country's issues, involving specially youngsters from high schools and universities. Many people don’t realize they are part of the solution and can create a better future, we all should be aware of that.

For further information: http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/eldesafioacademy/

Case 3: Call for proposals. ICT for democracy and freedom of expression

The specific objective of this call is to provide support to initiatives and activities in which the Internet and new technologies are used to strengthen actors who work for democratization and freedom of expression, mainly in challenging and repressive environments.

This call for proposals refers to the Swedish Special Initiative for Democratization and Freedom of Expression, to be implemented by Sida during the period 2012–2014. Deadline for submission of applications is 18 October 2012. See here for more information. See also Sida’s call on ICT for empowerment of women and girls, with the same deadline.

For further information: http://orecomm.net/2012/call-for-proposals-ict-for-democracy-and-freedom-of-expression/

VIDEOS Now, watch the following videos. How do they relate to the topic?

Daphne Koller, “What we're learning from online education”, available at

http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_koller_what_we_re_learning_from_online_education.html (first 5 minutes) Ben Knight, “How technology can enable everyday democracy”, Available at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vCL4I19o9U (from 12.30 to 16.27)

HOMEWORK: Write a reflection to post on our blog. Title: “30 years of democracy”

Summary. The project promotes civic participation and democracy in

Argentina (democracy was re-established in 1983 after decades of

dictatorships). The idea is to create a platform where young people can get

involved in the life of the country from a non-political-party angle. The concept

will give information and tools of civic participation, public actions, foster

social commitment and make democracy stronger, accepting diverse opinions

and voices to create a better future for all.

Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) invites civic

organizations and other relevant actors to apply for funding for initiatives where ICT is

being used to support democracy and freedom of expression.