Evgeny Morozov

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Evgeny Morozov (2010)
For the Russian footballer, see Yevgeny Morozov.
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Evgeny Morozov (born 1984 in Soligorsk, Belarus[1]) is a writer and researcher who studies political and social implications of technology.

Contents

Life [edit]

Born in Belarus, Morozov attended the American University in Bulgaria[2] and later lived in Berlin before moving to the United States.

Morozov is a visiting scholar at Stanford University,[3] a fellow at the New America Foundation, and a contributing editor of and blogger for Foreign Policy magazine, for which he writes the blog Net Effect. He has previously been a Yahoo! fellow at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service, a fellow at the Open Society Institute, director of new media at the NGO Transitions Online, and a columnist for the Russian newspaper Akzia. In 2009 he was chosen as a TED fellow where he spoke about how the Web influences civic engagement and regime stability in authoritarian, closed societies or in countries "in transition."[4]

Morozov's writings have appeared in various newspapers and magazines around the world, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Economist, The Guardian, New Scientist, The New Republic, Corriere Della Sera, Times Literary Supplement, Newsweek International, International Herald Tribune, Boston Review, Slate, and the San Francisco Chronicle.[5]

Thought [edit]

Morozov expresses skepticism about the popular view that the Internet is helping to democratize authoritarian regimes, arguing that it could also be a powerful tool for engaging in mass surveillance, political repression, and spreading nationalist and extremist propaganda. He has also criticized what he calls "The Internet Freedom Agenda" of the US government, finding it naive and even counterproductive to the very goal of promoting democracy through the Web.[6]

The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom [edit]

In January 2011, Morozov published his first book The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom (ISBN 978-1586488741). In addition to exploring the impact of the Internet on authoritarian states, the book investigates the intellectual sources of the growing excitement about the liberating potential of the Internet and links it to the triumphalism that followed the end of the Cold War.[7] Morozov also argues against the ideas of what he calls cyber-utopianism (the inability to see the Internet's 'darker' side, that is, the capabilities for information control and manipulation of new media space) and Internet-centrism (the growing propensity to view all political and social change through the prism of the Internet.) [8]

To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism [edit]

In March 2013, Morozov published a second book, To Save Everything, Click Here (ISBN 1610391381). Morozov's critique of "technology solutionism," the idea that, as Tim Wu put it, "a little magic dust can fix any problem" is timely and potentially valuable. But Wu, whose own work is severely critiqued by Morozov in To Save Everything[9], goes on to dismiss Morozov's book as "rife with such bullying and unfair attacks that seem mainly designed to build Morozov’s particular brand of trollism" and "a missed opportunity" to actually discuss the issue.[10]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Pilkington, Ed (2011-01-13). "Evgeny Morozov: How democracy slipped through the net". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-08-29. 
  2. ^ https://twitter.com/evgenymorozov/status/253538773231599616
  3. ^ "Evgeny Morozov - FSI Stanford". The Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. Retrieved 2011-08-29. 
  4. ^ "Profile on TED". Retrieved 2009-11-13. 
  5. ^ "Profile on Open Society Foundation". Retrieved 2009-11-13. 
  6. ^ Morozov, Evgeny (2011-01). "Freedom.gov". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2011-09-23. 
  7. ^ Kane, Pat (2011-01-07). "Review of The Net Delusion: How Not To Liberate The World, By Evgeny Morozov". The Independent. Retrieved 2011-09-23. 
  8. ^ Chatfield, Tom (2011-01-08). "Review of The Net Delusion: How Not To Liberate The World, By Evgeny Morozov". The Observer. Retrieved 2011-09-23. 
  9. ^ Morozov. To Save Everything. p. 58-61. 
  10. ^ Wu, Tim (2013-04-12). "Book review: ‘To Save Everything, Click Here’ by Evgeny Morozov". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2013-04-17. 

External links [edit]

Authority control
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