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Centrality and power: The struggle over the techno‐political configuration of the Internet and the global digital order
[journal article]
Abstract In recent years, various governments have been trying to subordinate the Internet to the system of the Westphalian state order. This article seeks to add a new layer to the analysis of this conflict over state sovereignty and the global digital order. It draws on network theory as an alternative ana... view more
In recent years, various governments have been trying to subordinate the Internet to the system of the Westphalian state order. This article seeks to add a new layer to the analysis of this conflict over state sovereignty and the global digital order. It draws on network theory as an alternative analytical lens to study the reconfiguration of power relations that define the Internet as a technical, social and economic network, and its governance. We review key conflicts and developments that shaped the Internet's history, from the Internet exceptionalists' visions in the 1990s to states' recent pursuits of digital sovereignty and trace how states, as well as private companies, seek to fundamentally reconfigure the dominant logic of the Internet and its sub-networks to expand and institutionalise their power position. We thus highlight a deeper layer of conflict: the current struggles over the techno-political configuration of the Internet are not only influenced by the conflict between liberal and authoritarian visions of the Internet; they are also the result of continuous tensions between processes of centralisation and decentralisation of the Internet's technical foundations and its governance. As an effect of these dynamics, we currently witness a pluralisation of power while, at the same time, new points of centralised control emerge.... view less
Keywords
Internet; governance; network; power; fragmentation; digitalization
Classification
Sociology of Science, Sociology of Technology, Research on Science and Technology
Special areas of Departmental Policy
Free Keywords
digital economy; digital sovereignty
Document language
English
Publication Year
2022
Page/Pages
p. 13-27
Journal
Policy & Internet, 14 (2022) 1
ISSN
1944-2866
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0