6 August, 2024

Postdegree on Technopolitics and Rights in the Digital Era – Previous program

Post last edited: September 2023

The Postgraduate Degree in Technopolitics and Rights in the Digital Era (common goods, democracy and communication in the information era) at the Law Department of the University of Barcelona trains active players in the new models of the strategic action taking place in the context of the information era. Versatile professionals who carry out new forms of organization and action and lead sectors that transform and are in transformation.

Simona Levi, founder of the platform for democratic innovation Xnet; David Bondia, Ombudsman of Barcelona, Doctor of Law and former president of the Institute of Human Rights of Catalonia, and Cristina Ribas, professor of Communication at UPF, all of them outstanding figures for their social commitment, lead this postgraduate course in collaboration with the Fundació Solidarity of the University of Barcelona with the support of the Directorate of Global Justice of the Barcelona City Council.

Over the course, you will learn about the evolution of rights and freedoms; you will understand the dynamics of networked action and the multiple options it offers; you will learn how to design, manage and lead policy transformation to adapt them to a current context; you will discover new forms of communication and participation; you will learn new methodologies for creating strategic action plan designs; and you will fully grasp the possibilities offered by the digital context and data to perfect your competencies and skills across all professional sectors.

The Postgraduate Degree in Technopolitics and Rights in the Digital Era is aimed at public-sector managers, researchers and academics in the fields of political sciences, social sciences and humanities, along with journalists, artists, lawyers, political officials, professionals, entrepreneurs, computer scientists, economists, activists and managers in the tertiary sector and of organizations undergoing transformation processes. It is also aimed at directors of organizations and institutions that drive programs of participation, networking, social responsibility and political involvement.

Program

1. Rights and freedoms: frame of action in the digital era

    • What do we mean when we talk about rights and freedoms?
    • The future of human rights in the digital age. Theory for action/Emerging human rights.
    • Legal framework: protection vs vulnerability. A global vision.
    • A natural history of sharing – Neuropolitics and network society.
    • History of the approach to life.
    • First came free software.
    • History of copyright.
    • What is the Internet and how is it governed?
    • Franklin’s patents and Facebook.
    • History of networks.
    • Global files and the global exchange of Open Access files.
    • Big Data and data sovereignty.
    • Big Data, e-health and alternatives to the privatized system of biomedical research.
    • Medication and patents. Fights for health surveillance.
    • Transparency laws compared.
    • Freedom of Expression and the Right to Information.
    • History and legislation to protect whistleblowers.
    • Wikileaks.
    • The political dimension of technology and the data economy.
    • Deontology and business ethics in the digital age.
    • The future of work.
    • Commons and sustainability.
    • Algorithmic governance, ethics and human rights.
    • Citizen use of data.
    • Social networks as ecosystem.

2. Action, technopolitics and governance

    • Ways of working. Brief overview of the recent history of direct creative action. Before and after the www.
    • The past and future of geopoetics.
    • Tactical media and post truth.
    • Organization and action strategies and practices.
    • Ethics of the technopolitical infrastructures of activism.
    • The coming war.
    • History of hacking.
    • If 2018 was 1994.
    • History of propaganda and information manipulation
    • Conditions for information quality.
    • Manipulation of communication.
    • #FakeYou
    • Structure of disinformation.
    • Social networks, impact and censorship.
    • Civil movements of digital natives. The 15-M movement and other network movements as a case study.
    • Technopolitics and collective organization.
    • Governance in the digital age – achievements and myths of e-democracy.
    • Communication, media structure and the myth of neutrality
    • Freelance diplomacy.
    • Compared study of net parties.
    • New politics and false positives.

3. Practical workshops on tools for:

    • Organization.
    • Online research.
    • Intervention.
    • Communication.
    • Personal security.
    • Data protection.
    • The management and visualization of data.
    (These workshops do not require technical knowledge)

4. Project
Individual or group work, chosen by the student(s). This will be monitored by a mentor throughout the course. The work can also be an external project that the student wants to improve.
All these projects, both the individual and group ones, will be real insofar as possible and will become a part of participants’ professional portfolios.

 

Academic Directors

Simona Levi
• Theatre director, playwright, technopolitical strategist, multidisciplinary artist. As an activist in recent years she has focused on free culture, digital democracy and the strategic use of digital tools for organization, technopolitical communication, collective initiative, the fight against state corruption and the renewal of democracy.

David Bondia
• Ombudsman of the City of Barcelona.
• Professor of International Law and former Chairman of the Institut Drets Humans de Catalunya (Catalan Institute for Human Rights).

Cristina Ribas
• Chair of the Catalan Association of Scientific Communication (ACCC).
• Bachelor in Journalism from Pompeu Fabra University.
• Adjunct lecturer at the Faculty of Communication of Pompeu Fabra University.
 

Teachers

• Valery Alzaga
Coordinator of Change to Win, specialist in bio-syndicalism campaigns for new emerging sectors.

• Alfons Aragoneses.
Professor of History of Law at Pompeu Fabra University and jurist. His lines of research are transitional justice, transitions to democracies, law and dictates and comparative legal history.

• Quique Badia Masoni
Journalist, master’s degree in Cognitive Science and Language from the University of Barcelona (UB) and professor of Communication Structure and Communication Law and Professional Ethics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Researcher in Philosophy of Language and Philosophical Logic from the same university. He collaborates with the UAB’s Daniel Jones Communication Structure and Policies Research Group.

• ICANN /Andrea Beccalli.
Andrea joined ICANN in 2013. As a Senior Director Stakeholder Engagement she works on ICANN’s engagement with European governments, Internet communities, EU bodies, as well as European-based intergovernmental organizations.

• Bani Brusadin
Professor, producer and cultural researcher in the field of the intersection between art, new technologies, popular cultures and politics. Degree in Communication and Arts from the University of Bologna. He is co-founder of The Influencers Festival.

• Beatriz Busaniche.
President of the Vía Libre Foundation, professor in the Communication Sciences Studies the University of Buenos Aires and Magister in intellectual property of FLACSO.

• Floren Cabello.
Doctor of Communication Sciences and lecturer of Audiovisual Communication Technology at the University of Malaga.

• Gemma Calvet
Director of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area Transparency Agency. Graduated in Law. Jurist, political analyst and former deputy of the Parliament of Catalonia.

• Albert Cañigueral.
General Director of Open Data, Transparency and Collaboration to the Secretary of Open government of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Author of “El trabajo ya no es lo que era” and leader of the development of Ouishare in Spain since 2012, he has been considered one of the benchmarks of the platform economy in Spanish. His work focuses on research, inspiration and support for companies, organisations and individuals in their adaptation to the digital era and its impact on the workplace.

• Civio
The Civio Citizen Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization that monitors public authorities, informs all citizens, and presses for real and effective transparency in institutions.

• Gabriella Coleman.
Anthropologist and lecturer of the “Wolfe Chair” in Scientific and Technological Literacy at McGill University in Montreal (Quebec, Canada). PhD in Sociocultural Anthropology from the University of Chicago.

• Javier Creus
Specialist in collaborative economy, open and P2P business models, citizen innovation and the network society. He is the founder of the Ideas for Change think-tank.

• Helen Darbishire / Access Info
Founder and Executive Director of Access Info Europe, – an organization that facilitates public participation in decision-making and government oversight – and founder of the Global Network of Defenders of Freedom of Information.

• Alberto Escorcia
Mexican cyberactivist dedicated to uncovering the espionage and manipulation of the Mexican government towards citizens.

• Manuel González Bedia.
Deputy Director General of University Research Activity of the Government of Spain. Graduate in Physical Sciences, co-founder of the “Red española de Ciencias Cognitivas” (Spanish Network of Cognitive Sciences), lecturer and researcher in the Computing Studies departments at the University of Salamanca, Complutense University of Madrid, Charles III University of Madrid and the University of Zaragoza.

• Daniele Grasso / ICIJ
Coordinator of data journalism at El País, he has participated in projects of ICIJ, a network of transnational journalists that investigates cases of corruption, cross-border crime and the responsibility of power, led the Spanish chapter of LuxLeaks, the Falciani List and the Panama Papers.

• Ignasi Labastida.
PhD in Physics and manager of the Office for the Dissemination of Knowledge and the Research Department at the CRAI of the University of Barcelona. He is leader of the Creative Commons project in the Spanish State.

• Itziar de Lecuona.
D. in Law, professor of the Department of Medicine and deputy director of the Bioethics Observatory and UNESCO Chair of Bioethics at the University of Barcelona. She is also a member of the Covid-19 Multidisciplinary Group of the Ministry of Science and Innovation.

• Maadix
Online tool that allows you to enable open source applications on your own server, allowing digital autonomy, privacy of communications and data security.

• Jorge Malem Seña.
Professor of Law at UPF. His work is related to political structures in Latin America, legal theory and sociology, censorship and freedom of expression, civil disobedience, the imposition of morality, the relationship between morality and law, contemporary societies and social sciences.

• Guillem Martínez
Writer, journalist in media such as El País or The Guardian, now publishes in CTXT. He has a degree in Hispanic Philology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He has written several books and has been coordinator of the volume “CT” (“Culture of Transition”).

• Rafael Martínez Portillo
Jurist and economist specialized in telecommunications, internet and audiovisuals. Since 2006 he has worked in the CNMC’s Electronic Communications Market Analysis Subdirectorate. He participates as an expert in several BEREC working groups. Since 2010 he collaborates as a professor of Internet Law and telecommunications economics in various postgraduate courses.

• Rubén Mártínez Moreno
Working member of La Hidra Cooperativa. Member of the Foundation of the Commons. Researcher and teacher on public policies, social innovation and urban political economy. Doctor of Political Science (UAB).

• Marga Padilla
Technical engineer in computer systems and pioneer of free software in Spain. She learned about free software and the social and political uses of the then new technologies through her participation in busy social centers, when web pages hardly existed. Something that the University never taught him. Since then she has not stopped investigating the relationship between political action and new technologies.

• Genís Roca
Specialist in business transformation processes, business development and digital culture. He is an archaeologist. In 2013 and 2014 he was chosen as one of the 25 most influential Spaniards on the Internet by the newspaper El Mundo.

• Jaron Rowan.
Coordinator of the art area at BAU, University Centre of Design in Barcelona, where he teaches the subject “Economics, company and design”. PhD and Master in Cultural Studies from Goldsmiths, University of London.

• Pere Rusiñol
Founding partner and editor of the magazine Alternatives Economics. He has worked in El País and in Público. He combines his work with Mongolia magazine where he is responsible for the Reality News section.

• Hugo Sáez
Communication strategist and digital consultant, he has a degree in Advertising and Public Relations from the University of the Basque Country. Specialist in Behavioral Science, he applies the latest advances in psychology to advertising and marketing to better understand consumer behavior.

• Artur Serra.
PhD in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Barcelona. Since 2003, deputy director of i2cat. Co-founder and responsible for innovation of Citilab. Founder of the Catalan Chapter of the Internet Society in 1995. Since 2006 member of the European Network of Living Lab.

• Mònica Terribas.
Journalist and former director of Televisió de Catalunya and of the radio program “El matí de Catalunya Ràdio”. She is a full professor of Communication Theory at Pompeu Fabra University.

• Marcos Wachowicz.
D. in Law from the Federal University of Paraná – UFPR among many other degrees, specializes in the area of Law, with emphasis on Intellectual Property Law, acting mainly in the following areas: computer law, intellectual property, copyright, information technology and software law.