Civic hackers: digital technologies as a collective construction of the urban environment in Brazil

Abstract

This study examines theoretically and empirically the civic hacking movement in Brazil, considering the typologies and objectives of diverse groups involved in the construction of digital urban environments. The methodology establishes an empirical survey followed by a grouping of concepts and categorizations and understanding about the levels of action of hacktivist practice, which resulted in a framework based on the theoretical-conceptual correlations established, defining the Brazilian civic hacking strategies in a panoramic and flexible approach. Results confirm that the hacker practice emerges as something beyond the breaking of codes, and starts to figure as a way of subversion of the traditional use of the digital medium in order to make the action visible and legitimizing different narratives. We concluded the logic of a “system to be invaded” remains in an empirical and iterative process, based on trials, errors and improvisation.

Keywords:
Civic Hacking; Hacktivism; Digital Activism; Digital Technologies; Urban Management