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Bolivia's Next Steps: The Role of Civil Society

I am absolutely fascinated by the peaceful transformation going on in Bolivia. In Bolivia's Next Steps, Benjamin Dangl paints a picture of the momentum that real change has there, following the most recent landslide re-election of Evo Morales and his party. The key element that stands out is how, whether it's about policy or organizing, the movement is deeply based in civil society. I can't help but contrast this to the situation in the U.S., where Obama was the favored candidate in most circles of civil society, but doesn't remotely govern as such because our sector is largely co-opted. In Bolivia, community organizations, unions, and the other organizations of civil society are at the center of the movement for change. Posted: 12/17/09; 5:46:45 PM #

Educational Technology Debate
	The Educational Technology Debate is focusing on lessons learned from the One Laptop Per Child project. OLPC always struck me as distinctly non-systems savvy and the insights from the conversation bear that out. Hardware alone is not transformative. Posted: 12/17/09; 5:39:09 PM #

The Ballast Concept, A Blog by Ashley Cummings

If I'm not mistaken, Ashley Cummings is another finalist in Askoka's Hyderabad Challenge. (Really, blogging a conference is inherently a network-centric, peer-based project. It would be a pleasure to be working with the other finalists, rather than competing with them.) Her blog is entitled The Ballast Concept and I definitely recommend it. Among recent posts, I encourage you to check out "Invest in The People Who Really Know", in which she draws the critical distinction between amplifying the voices of people directly involved in issues and actually empowering them. Posted: 12/17/09; 5:35:59 PM #

Amy Sample Ward's Version of NPTech

As a result of participating in Ashoka's invitation to bloggers to compete for the chance to donate our time to be the official blogger for their upcoming conference in Hyderabad, I'm getting to know some very thoughtful writers and thinkers among other finalists for the gig. (Yeah, I know this is an odd thing to compete for, but since I have often covered conferences on behalf of Nonprofit Online News, this seemed like a good fit.) One of the other finalists is Amy Sample Ward, whose blog is a gem. I particularly enjoy her short collections of items in her regular "great reads" posts. Posted: 12/17/09; 5:27:17 PM #