Adaption to data-driven practices in civil society organizations: A case study of Amnesty International

Abstract

Digital membership organizations assert that their innovative use of data-driven practices is at the heart of their people-powered decision-making models. These data-driven practices, and associated values, have become aspirational to other organizations. However, there are growing concerns that data practices reinforce the decision-making power of the data collector at the expense of the rights of the data subject. This research considers how traditional membership organizations adapt to these new data-driven practices, while addressing these concerns. This paper demonstrates how the political communication theory of the trustee, delegate, and responsible leadership models resolves the tension in the discourse surrounding data practices by exploring the positives and negatives of both decentralized decision-making and centralized decision-making. The framework is then explored in practice through an ethnographic case study of Amnesty International. The results show how the use of data to be people-powered is a powerful discourse, but ultimately new data practices are only used to centralize power, as is purported by critical literature.