Information Societies
The International Political Economy of Information and Communication Technology
Special Topics COM597
Dr. Philip N. Howard
Assistant Professor
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30-11:20, BLM 308
Introduction
This course on the political economy of information societies will critically assess theories of international development from across the social sciences. From political science, theories of modernization, dependency, underdevelopment help explain both surges of economic wealth from high tech sectors and the persistence of international institutions for extracting wealth from poor countries. From sociology, world systems theory puts the development of new economic systems into deep historical perspective, and the new institutionalism highlights systems of institutional isomorphism, competitive mimicry, normative emulation, and coercion that might explain how hardware and software systems become global standards. Communication offers theories of technology diffusion, cultural production and consumption online, and topical expertise on how engineering standards and telecommunications policy become tools of social control.
Many social scientists are studying the impact of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) on our economic, political and cultural lives. The range of phenomena studied across the disciplines is impressive: the global economy, the organizational behavior of firms, and the dot-com boom; the structure of the world system, the bureaucratic efficiency of states, the international politics of technical standards; cultural production and consumption, intercultural communication, and ownership diversity of digital media systems. The use of new ICTs, such as mobile phones and the internet, is also being studied in different contexts, from small and local organizational field sites such as work places, households, and schools, to large institutions such as states, firms, social movements and justice systems. In addition, there are new social forms of organization in cyberspace, forms of organization that help define and indeed constitute information societies. The goal of this class is to
· to understand the role of information and communication technology in international development;
· to understand the theoretical perspectives on technology and development from different disciplines by exploring their use in cross case comparisons;
· to critically assess these theories, applying them in a personal research project or case study of selected by the student.
There is a burgeoning literature on the role of ICTs in transforming the institutions of state, diplomacy, and citizenship.
What is an information
society? How do well do these
theories—proposed to help explain transitions from agrarian to industrial
society and the evolution of late industrial capitalism—help explain what may
be a new stage in political economy: the
network society, open society or information society? Is e-government a straightforward means of
building state capacity and further rationalizing public bureaucracies, or are
there signs of a deeper transformation in the institution of the state? What is the role of blogs, wikis and other
digital media systems in the culture and news diets of people living in
authoritarian regimes? While the role of
mobile phones and the internet in democratic movements has been feted from Iqaluit
to
We will critically explore the concepts often used to in discussions of the contemporary international political economy, including “network society”, “digital divide,” and “information society”. We will also review the theories of modernization, dependency, and underdevelopment that have been used to understand the problems and prospects of development. Case studies from around the world will be used wherever possible. Students will have significant freedom to develop their own research interests through a paper on a topic of their own choosing. Through diverse readings, students will also learn about the various methodologies for studying technology and society.
Although this course has no formal prerequisites, students with at least one substantive course and one methods course in the political, social or communication sciences will be best prepared for the pace and expectations of this course.
Evaluation
Students will be evaluated through their participation in class discussions (25%), the drafting of a publishable review of a recent scholarly book on some aspect of information societies (25%), and the submission of a manuscript, the content of which can be negotiated at the beginning of the course (50%). Students are encouraged to draft or redraft a conference paper, thesis proposal, dissertation chapter, or other manuscript as appropriate for the stage they are in for their academic career. Case studies of particular countries or particular ICTs are welcome. In important ways, the freedom to develop a manuscript over the course of our 10 weeks of conversations is more challenging than writing a class-specific paper, so students should come to the first meeting with a sense of what they want to draft or redraft.
Outline
Week 1: Modernization
Marx, Karl. Grundrisse:
Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy.
Week 2: Dependency and Underdevelopment
Galtung, J. 1971. “A Structural Theory of Imperialism,” Journal of Peace Research 8, 81-117;
Week 4: Metaphors—Network Societies
Castells, M. (2000). The
Rise of the Network Society (2nd ed.).
Week 5: Metaphors—Open Societies
Calhoun, Craig. "Community without Propinquity
Revisited: Communications Technology and the Transformation of the Urban Public
Sphere." Sociological Inquiry 68, no. 3 (1998). Endre Danyi, E. (2006). Xerox Project: Photocopy
Machines as a Metaphor for An "Open Society". The Information Society, 22(2), 111-115. Kalathil, S., & Boas, T. C. (2003). Open Networks, Closed Regimes: The Impact of
the Internet on Authoritarian Rule.
Week 6: Metaphors—Digital Divides
Barzilai-Nahon, K. (2006). Gaps and Bits: Conceptualizing Measurements for the Digital Divide/s. The Information Society, 22(5), 269-278. Henisz, W., Zelner, B., & Guillen, M. (2005). The Worldwide Diffusion of Market-Oriented Infrastructure Reform, 1977-1999. American Sociological Review, 70(6), 871-897. Milner, H. (2006). The Digital Divide: The Role of Political Institutions in Technology Diffusion. Comparative Political Studies, 39(2), 176-199.
Week 7: Information, Culture and Youth
Thurlow, C. (2007). Fabricating Youth: New-Media Discourse
and the Technologization of Young People. In S. Johnson & A. Ensslin
(Eds.), Language in the Media:
Representations, Identities, Ideologies (pp. 213-233).
Week 8: ICTs in the Muslim World
Ayish, M.
Week 9: Cyberwar, Cyberterrorism, and International Cybercrime
Cronin, Blaise, and Elisabeth Davenport. "E-Rogenous
Zones: Positioning Pornography in the
Digital Economy." The Information Society 17, no. 1 (2001): 33-48. Denning, D. "Activism, Hacktivism, and
Cyberterrorism: The Internet as a Tool for Influencing Foreign Policy." In
Networks and Netwars, edited by Arquilla and Ronfeldt.
Week 10: Technology and Transnational Social Movements
Kahn, R., and D. Kellner. "New Media and Internet
Activism: From the ‘