Proposal Submission Deadline: January 15, 2010      

E-Politics and Organizational Implications of the Internet: Power, Influence and Social Change

A book edited by Dr. Celia Romm Livermore

Wayne State University, USA

To be published by IGI Global: http://www.igi-global.com/requests/details.asp?ID=776

Introduction

When President Obama introduced social networking, e-mail, blogging and text messaging as the major means of communicating with his supporters, it was hailed as the first time that electronic media was utilized in American politics. The truth is, however, that ePolitics, which is defined here as “political activities that are undertaken via electronic media,” has been around for decades. The roots of ePolitics can be traced to the 1960s when the advent of the PC heralded a major shift in the power of the IT function within organizations relative to their role in previous decades. This resulted in the IT function in organizations becoming less powerful than it was before. A similar shift in power, but in the opposite direction, took place when the Internet and Internet related technologies (e.g., eCommerce, e-mail, social-networking services, etc.) became prominent. The new technologies heralded a new shift of power, with the IT department playing a central role again through the control of organizations’ intranets, extranets, centralized ERP systems, CRM systems, etc.

Another area where ePolitics has manifests in the past two decades is electronically enabled organizational politics. Indeed, recent years have seen a proliferation of research activity on the political dynamics of virtual communities, including the utilization of electronic media to support community development (community informatics), the social dynamics of commercially supported communities of customers, the interactions within communities of gamers, learning communities, eDating communities, support group communities, and social networking communities, etc.

Finally, a recent new area of manifestation for ePolitics involves the utilization of electronic media to support organized Party Politics. This area of research involves studies of the utilization of blogging, e-mail, social networking and text messaging by community activists and political parties. This new area of growth for ePolitics, as a research area, includes the study of technologies like e-voting to support political activities, eGovernment, etc. The utilization of electronic media in the 2008 Presidential campaign, particularly by the winning party, is one more example of this growing trend.

To conclude, ePolitics is an emerging research area consisting of four major sub-areas:

• The politics of the IT function and its role in organizations
• Organizational politics that is enabled by electronic media
• The electronically supported political activities of virtual communities, including geographically based communities (e.g., cities), professional communities, learning communities, communities of customers, social networking communities, etc.
• Party politics that is enabled by electronic media

Objective of the Book

This book is intended to chart the boundaries and establish the foundations of ePolitics as an emerging interdisciplinary area of research and practice. For the very first time, researchers from all over the world will be invited to submit articles on the many interdisciplinary aspects of this exciting area of research. In addition, the book will offer a venue for new theoretical models on ePolitics and for empirical research on the manifestations of ePolitics in different contexts and different cultures. Given ePolitics interdisciplinary nature, the book will encompass aspects of ePolitics such as strategy, eCommerce, decision sciences, marketing, economics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, media studies, communication studies, women’s studies, black studies, political science, philosophy, law, criminology, and ethics. Theoretical aspects associated with technology diffusion, trust, community, information asymmetry, power, decision-making, privacy, supply and demand, culture and web design may also be relevant.

Target Audience

The target audience of this book will be professionals and researchers working in areas such as information technology, communication, social studies and political science. The book will provide insights and support students, researchers, and members of the general public who are interested in the impact that technology has on politics and the many manifestations that the interplay between the two has at this point in history.

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to the following:

The politics of the IT function and its role in organizations

• The political activities of members of the IT function vis-à-vis the rest of the organization
• Changes in the power of the IT unit as a function of the diffusion of new technologies
• The strategies used by members of the IT unit to influence others
• The impact of global issues such as outsourcing, downsizing, political upheavals, etc. on the political role played by the IT unit within organizations.

The politics of virtual communities

• The use of electronic media for industrial relations and negotiations with employers
• The use of electronic media for surveillance manipulation and harassment in commercial and non-commercial environments
• The impact of status and authority on electronically enabled political maneuvering by management and the effects of culture, race, and gender on political activities within and between organizations.

• The political dynamics of geographically based communities (community informatics)
• The political dynamics of virtual communities of practice, including learning communities, customers’ communities, eDating communities, gaming communities, support group communities, social networking communities, etc.

Party politics and social activism

• eVoting and electronically enabled eGovernment
• The role electronic media in political campaigns. Including their impact on political debate, information sharing, political decision making, fund raising, etc.
• As electronically enabled party politicking is becoming a global phenomenon, the utilization of ePolitics at all levels of governance, including the city, the state, the country and the global arenas.

Submission Procedure

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before January 15, 2010, a 2-3 page chapter proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by January 22, 2010 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by April 1, 2010. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.

Publisher

This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), publisher of the Information Science Reference (formerly Idea Group Reference), Medical Information Science Reference, Business Science Reference, and Engineering Science Reference imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi-global.com. This publication is anticipated to be released in 2011.

Important Dates

January 15, 2010: Proposal Submission Deadline

January 22, 2010: Notification of Acceptance

April 1, 2010: Full Chapter Submission

June 15, 2010: Review Results Returned

September 15, 2010: Final Chapter Submission

November 1, 2010: Submission of All Materials to Publisher 

Inquiries and submissions should be forwarded electronically (Word document) to:

Celia Romm Livermore (PhD)
School of Business Administration
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI, 48202, USA
E-mail address: ak1667@wayne.edu