Dear all,
Year end salaams from Isis International Manila!
I would like to inform everyone about a workshop discussion that Isis will be
organising at the upcoming Asian Social Forum, in Hyderabad, India, which will
be held from the 2-7th January 2002. I seem to be having problems attaching
the flyer of this workshop for some reason, and so am sending you the
information attached below. I know that some of you will be in Hyderabad,
India, and hope that you will be able to attend.
I have yet to plough through all of my email, but I hope there are similar
announcements by others on their workshops being held at the ASF. It has been
hard for me to figure out what is happening when, and so the date and time
chosed was the best I could do, given the information available.
Best regards to all,
Susanna
NOTE:
Supinya, could you please write to me urgently, because I would like to discuss
the possibility of you being a discussant on the panel. I am already here in
Hyderabad and do not have your direct email on hand. My handphone number in
Hyderabad is (0091) 98491-62180 - please call me once you arrive if you are
unable to respond to this message.
I apologise to all on the list for this private note.
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AN INVITATION TO JOIN
A WORKSHOP DISCUSSION AT THE ASIAN SOCIAL FORUM 2003
$BE$(BHANGING LENS: A FEMINIST CRITIQUE OF THE GLOBAL MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION
SYSTEMS”
Date : Sunday, 5 January 2002
Time: 2:30 - 6:30 PM
Meeting Venue: Madina Mini Hall, near Nizam College
Isis International Manila, invites you to participate in a workshop discussion
on globalised media and communication systems and its impact on women. We see
this discussion as an opportunity for feminists, activists and women
information and communication NGOs in the region to raise awareness on the
links between the media, new information and communication technologies, the
different forms of globalisation that these supports, and the impact of these
realities on the women$BCT(B human rights and social justice movements.
The convening of this discussion group at the Asian Social Forum (ASF) is
particularly vital given that in December 2003, the United Nations will hold
the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS). We believe that the World
Summit on Information Society (WSIS) is a turning point of sorts in UN
conferences, as it is the first conference in which multinational corporations
and large telecommunications companies are seeking to have direct influence.
Progressive women$BCT(B activists and other social justice actors find themselves
being forced to share space for advocacy interventions with the powerful
interests of multinational corporations under the nebulous, all encompassing
United Nations definition of "civil society." There has been little space for
progressive human rights interventions or for examining some of the critical
issues of information and communications from Southern perspective. Feminists
and human rights activists need to organise around and formulate strategies
demanding an information sector that reflects a vision of communications that
is based on the human rights principles, and on the needs of the most
marginalised amongst us.
We invite you to participate in this discussion as a small step towards
building the critical mass of progressive women$BCT(B voices necessary to challenge
a process such as WSIS, while joining forces with those resisting the
monopolistic non-democratic control of information and communication systems by
giant corporations and capitalist interests.
We are inviting several discussants from both India and the region to explore
and facilitate discussions on the following possible discussion topics:
 The Globalised Media and Communications System : A Feminist Critique
 The New Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs): Expanding
Opportunities for the Marginalised?
 The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS): What is at stake for women$BCT(B
and human rights groups?
 Women$BCT(B and Community-based Communication Strategies for Social Justice,
Advocacy and Movement Building
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
SUSANNA GEORGE at <susanna@isiswomen.org> or <chakarapena@rediffmail.com> or in
H$BCC(Bad, call: 98491-62180 or MALEN IBANEZ : malen@isiswomen.org