The BIT-ACT project is on the KickBack Global AntiCorruption Podcast

The BIT-ACT team was invited by the KickBack Global AntiCorruption Podcast to talk about our research that investigates how civil society actors employ digital media as anti-corruption technologies across the world and at the transnational level.

In episode 56, Alice Mattoni, BIT-ACT’s principal investigator, talked about the potential of digital media for social movements against corruption. Alice also approached what anti-corruption activists and scholars can learn from research on social movements, why it makes more sense to speak of outcomes rather than successes of social movements, and the importance of framing behaviors as problematic issues. She also addressed the criticism that protests online are a mere form of slacktivism and the importance of connective actions.

In episode 61, Fernanda Odilla and Anwesha Chakraborty talked about their research on how to use technology to assist bottom-up anti-corruption efforts. Fernanda and Anwesha discussed whether the hype around digital tools to fight corruption is justified. They also discussed the challenge to keep citizens engaged in collective action and whether the projects use a naming and shaming approach. Anwesha and Fernanda also sketch a utopian future in how technology could help to reduce corruption.

The KickBack - Global AntiCorruption Podcast series features in-depth interviews with a wide range of corruption experts. The guests so far have included Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, world-leading corruption scholars, chief Economists of Development Banks, former FBI agents, creative and passionate anti-corruption practitioners, high-ranking corruption investigators, and the first United Nations whistleblower.

The KickBackGAP is a podcast project by Nils Köbis, Christopher Starke, Matthew Stephenson & Jonathan Kleinpass. It can be accessed via Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, or Itunes.