WSIS Tunis Book Launch: Visions in Process II

This sequel to Visions in Process I brings together assessments by women from around the world who, for the most part, have been involved in various civil society constituencies created during the WSIS process. The authors have been engaged in social movements and initiatives dedicated to promoting public awareness and activities in fields such as human rights, women’s rights, and various development initiatives concerning media and ICTs. Their contributions reflect on controversies within the discourses of governments and civil society on issues that lie at the core of the summit’s declared vision of a people-centred, development-oriented, and inclusive information society: human rights, development and participation.

Section I addresses the debates on human rights as these have been highly con-
troversial at WSIS.Against the background of existing violations of fundamental
human rights,such as the right of freedom of expression and the new threats posed
through ICTs to the rights to access information,to privacy,etc.,the debates within
civil society have concerned the ways and strategies to enhance and enforce human
rights implementation in all countries.The articles illustrate central aspects of the
debates concerning the new “communication rights ” concept,,the divergent perspec-
tives on development and human rights priorities,and address women ’s struggles
to achieve gender equality and women ’s rights.

Section II combines articles that reflect on civil society involvement in WSIS and
its multi-stakeholder approach. By describing and analyzing the structures, proce-
dures and tasks that have characterized the participation of civil society groups,the
authors raise questions about vital aspects of political participation,such as repre-
sentation,inclusion and exclusion,resource allocation,legitimacy and transparency. Among others the Section II includes a feminist conversation on the working group on internet governance: a feminist conversation”, in which Karen Banks interviews Jacqueline Morris and Avri Doria about their experiences and insights into the struggle to put women’s rights and gender issues on the agenda of internet governance,

Section III unites articles that discuss ways of developing the Information Society,
recognizing the great potential of ICTs for empowering people and transforming
societies. Some articles focus on this potential in relation to development paradigms
and question to what extent WSIS has met the development needs of the South.
Others discuss tools and concepts for knowledge sharing and dissemination,
capacity building,and adequate frameworks for media and ICT infrastructure regu-
lation to harness ICTs for development.