Amidst the din of debate over what it means to be a citizen in our globalized, late-capitalist, trans-national world, a small digital voice is beginning to speak.
Without any appeals to the latter hackneyed turns of phrase, Voices Without Votes (www.voices04.org) proceeds by way of a rather straightforward philosophy: American power extends beyond the boundary of the nation-state. As such, the upcoming presidential election, scheduled to take place in November 2004, is a matter of global concern. In its most elemental form, the Web site, “seeks to foster a presidential debate unlike most others.” The critical difference here, is the provision of an open space for those who are ineligible to vote in the next American election. Thus at its core, Voices Without Votes (VWV) is a virtual commons or symposium where the opinions of non-voters might be voiced. Whether these digitized voices will be heard however, is yet to be determined.
Indeed, the practical philosophy might be simple enough, but VWV-founded by Peter Deitz, a research fellow at the University of Toronto’s McLuhan Program for Culture and Technology-is part of a growing contingent of complex responses and adaptations to the shifting terrain of contemporary politics.
As the Internet installs itself as the mode of communication par excellence, adaptations such as this one seek to carve out new forms of political representation: technology as such, is folded into the very heart of the democratic process itself, as a means to incorporate the dialogue of those falling outside the scope of traditional demographics. Like other Web sites whose aim is to promote involvement and activism at the grassroots level, VWV mines the ostensibly ‘public’ domain of the Internet, in order to radically delimit political debate. Another interesting example of this phenomenon is The World Votes (www.theworldvotes.org), a site where one can do precisely that: fill out an electronic ballot on the day of the elections, regardless of one’s fixed address, and have it counted in a virtual, albeit informal, presidential election. The votes are to be counted by an independent organization, and then sent on to the U.S. government. The fundamental downfall of these types of grassroots organizations, however, is that their legitimacy is at best, murky-making them ineffective in terms of concrete political change. And at worst, this lack of legitimacy translates into a virtual obscurity within the mainstream of information, thus drastically minimizing their impact on the political scene altogether.
But this is where Voices differs from other grassroots approaches to democracy. The site itself is not a playground dominated by any one political group, on either end of the spectrum, nor does its graphical interface-which, according to a recent press release, was “inspired by the layout of a coherent voting ballot”-immediately appeal to the self-professed radical (neo-con, Marxist, or otherwise) seeking immediate gratification.
The Web site takes seriously the idea of dialogue, and this is clearly evidenced in the diversity of contributions to their “Dear America” section-which is really the focal-point of the site. It is here that one can read letters that express the opinions of the voiceless: their thoughts on America, and the upcoming election; the future of America’s responsibility as a world superpower, and criticism of their failure to live up to it. Needless to say, opinions vary from vehement anti-American/anti-Capitalist to unabashed espousals of America’s messianic mission to democratize the world. Most however, fall somewhere in between, as the remarks of those who have something to say. Each letter lists the region, and occupation(s) of its writers, and a quick glance at these indicators confirms the diverse make-up of contributors. Students, professors and activists, but also bar owners, journalists, and other so-called ‘ordinary’ people are listed among the site’s devotees. VWV also allows users to respond to other letters, by voting on how strongly they agree or disagree with the sentiments they express.
In keeping with the somewhat ‘moderate’ vibe of the site, radical letters tend to receive low approval ratings, while more docile-though sometimes no less critical letters-receive decidedly higher ratings. And further bolstering their mission to provide an alternative, open forum for debate, the site has recently added a “Dear World” section, designed to let American voters’ opinions be heard.
And perhaps it is this stringent commitment to dialogue, which lends the site its appeal. Rather than alienating would-be participants by a determined political agenda, the site allows its contributors to steer the topics of debate. It is in this sense that the site has the texture of democracy in its ideal, perhaps utopian state. VWV seeks only to provide the forum for dialogue, and allows its content to remain almost entirely user driven.
Alongside the letters, the site features an extensive news database, interviews with noted intellectuals (including U of T’s own Prof. Stephen Clarkson), as well as a featured “Dear America” letter, chosen by site organizers. To pull up Voices Without Votes on the screen, is to be confronted by a clean aesthetic, which delivers vast amounts of information in manageable, searchable chunks, transforming the click of a mouse into a potentially political gesture. Or at least that’s the theory anyway.
Technology and progressive politics have always had a troubled relationship, and this debate tends to polarize into a strict dichotomy: on the one hand, technology, being tied to the sphere of economics, can only replicate those divisions of labour that produced it. On the other, it is through the willing embrace of technology that change might be effected.
A Web site such as this one, while relying on the Internet to provide the form, seeks to place as much control in the hands of its users. Either way, regardless of where one stands in the techno-optimist/luddite debate, Voices Without Votes is an interesting site to watch.
But perhaps more importantly, however, is the participation of those who could not care less about technology’s role in a cogent form of political action (re: the majority of people out there!). Voices Without Votes is part of a complex phenomenon that can be theorized, critiqued and analyzed to death, and yet it is also a space for all types of voices to resound. And who knows, America just might be listening…
