Date: Mon, 15 May 1995 00:29:38 -0400
From: manifest-AT-wilmington.net (Christopher Mele)


I'm conducting research on the utility of Internet (specifically email and
Netscape) for collective action and social movements. 

For the past six months I've been working with a group of residents in a
low-income housing development in Wilmington, NC. To be short, the
residents, who were well-organized, had been getting the run around from the
local housing authority on a plan to raze then rebuild their homes. The
residents have insisted on active participation in the entire process and
the housing authority has been dragging their feet on providing technical
assistance, etc. 

If anyone out there knows just a little about southeastern NC, you know that
there are no housing coalitions (closest Chapel Hill 3 hours away) to lend
assistance. You should also know Wilmington's history of race relations: the
Coup of 1898 and the Wilmington Ten, to name a few better known instances of
oppression.

Given the limitations of locale, the residents hooked up to the Internet,
entered a request for technical assistance on a few architectural/planning
discussion groups, and now hav six architects working pro bono on their
behalf. Needless to say, the locals are not happy. Internet hasn't solved
most of their problems, but it has helped somewhat.

I'd be interested in knowing of any other Real Life applications of
computer-mediated communciation for "hard to reach" (Terry Williams)
populations, successful and unsuccessful. If you know of any leads, please
let me know. 

Thanks. By the way, the residents have started their own home page on the WWW.
The URL is http://www.wilmington.net/jervay/jervay.html

Christopher Mele
Assistant Professor of Sociology
UNC-Wilmington

manifest-AT-wilmington.net



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