A wave of mass protests swept across Brazil in June. Hundreds of thousands of young people expressed their anger. Social networks played an important role in the spread of the protests. What role they played exactly will be the topic of a three-day symposium on 22 November in Weimar.
Andrea Zellhuber, responsible for violence prevention and campaigns
In June a wave of mass protests in Brazil caused a worldwide sensation. Hundreds of thousands of young people took to the barricades against corruption and the exuberant government spending on the 2014 World Cup. In all major cities, young people protested for improvements in public transport, health and education. The tremendous momentum with which the wave of protests spread throughout the country surprised not only the government but also the social movements themselves. A key factor in the rapid spread of the wave of protest was the targeted use of social media. The protests then began to have an initial impact: in some cities, agreed increases in bus fares were reversed.
New media vs. established media
During the protests the established media denigrated the demonstrators as chaotic and drew a completely distorted picture of the events. Brazil's media landscape is in the hands of ten large companies. Among young people, however, the big media corporations seem to have lost their power as opinion leaders, because Brazilian youth today obtain their information mainly from the Internet.
The importance of social media for participatory processes
What conclusions can be drawn from these events for development cooperation? What potentials result from the growing importance of social media for processes of youth participation? How can a contribution be made to the democratisation of the media landscape through the targeted promotion of alternative media such as free radios, alternative magazines or blogs?
These are the questions terre des hommes schweiz will deal with at the symposium "Powerful Brazil and its media production", which we are organising together with other organisations of the Round Table Brazil, a Brazil platform of development cooperation organisations in the German-speaking world.
When? November 22 to 24, 2013.
Where? European Youth Education and Meeting Place EJB Weimar, Jenaer Strasse 2/4, 99425 Weimar
Registration: by 08 November at info@kooperation-brasilien.org
Further information and registration possibilities for the conference in PDF
