One indicator of civic (and political) crisis beyond a U.S. context is post-election violence. It can be the result of many factors, including the expression of long-simmering tension between rival factions, anger over lack of economic opportunity, or a breakdown in trust between political or ethnic groups, especially if there are allegations of vote-rigging.
The 2007 post-election violence in Kenya is one example of this. After Mwai Kibaki declared victory, opposition leader Raila Odinga and his supporters rejected his declaration, alleging it was the result of rampant vote rigging. Violence erupted which resulted in over 1,200 deaths and 600,000 displaced persons. While a power sharing agreement eventually resolved the political dispute, serious questions remain for the country about how to heal the civic crisis. Much of the violence targeted ethnic groups. Kibaki is a member of the Kikuyu people and Odinga is a member of the Luo, and there were instances of members of each group attacking the other.
IRIN states that media was used to spread violence: “Inflammatory statements and songs broadcast on vernacular radio stations and at party rallies, text messages, emails, posters and leaflets have all contributed to post-electoral violence in Kenya, according to analysts.” Neelam Verjee states that mobile phones and SMS messages “were used to start rumors, instill fear, and mobilize perpetrators to violence.”
In the wake of this post-election violence several funders and NGOs have been working to build systems that could counteract these messages in the future. Sisi ni Amani-Kenya (“We are Peace Kenya” in Kiswahili) “uses mobile technology as a tool for civic education, civic engagement, and dialogue to help Kenyans realize their common needs irrespective of political divides. We provide a neutral source of credible information and peace promotion. Rumors, misinformation, and confusion are key contributors to violence: getting people actionable information at the right time is crucial, and SNA-K’s use of SMS enables immediate, trusted and effective communication.”
Another example of using technology for civic renewal is Uchaguzi, a multi-organizational effort based on the Ushahidi crowdmapping platform to increase transparency and the flow of reliable information to respond quickly to problems. The Knight Foundation considered it a success when used during the 2010 referendum.
But how are these efforts contributing to civic renewal? Just as Johan Galtung differentiates between positive peace (the absence of structural violence, or the presence of social justice) and negative peace (the absence of personal violence) in “Violence, Peace and Peace Research” (1969), perhaps we should think in terms of positive and negative civic renewal. Negative civic renewal might therefore be defined the absence of civic decline. It would mean at least maintaining the status quo so that things don’t get worse. Positive civic renewal would be the active creation of new strong and weak social ties across rival groups resulting in an increase in trust. Thus when Sisi ni Amani attempts to counteract a call to violence over SMS, they are engaging in negative civic renewal. But when they work with community peace activists to help them spread their message across rival groups they are engaging in positive civic renewal. Both forms of renewal might reduce violence, but the long-term solution would seem to depend on positive civic renewal. Uchaguzi seems more oriented toward managing mistrust and making sure that problems are reported and rapidly addressed. Thus it may be primarily focused on negative civic renewal.
Ultimately, efforts like Sisi ni Amani and Uchaguzi that use media and technology to counteract messages promoting violence and increase the flow of reliable information are indeed examples of civic renewal in one form or another. By preventing critical breakdowns in tolerance and trust, Kenyans may be able to engage in what I am calling positive civic renewal, which is very similar to Robert Putnam’s description of rebuilding social capital. This entails re-establishing “social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them.”