Книга Фрэнка Вебстера - Теории информационного общества

Information is a distinguishing feature of the modern world. Where once economies were built on industry and conquest, we are now part of a global information economy. Pervasive media, burgeoning information occupations and the development of the Internet convince many that living in an Information Society is the destiny of us all. Information’s presence appears evident everywhere, from daily interaction in postmodern styles to the waging of Information War, from information intensive labour to the iPOD. Coping in an era of information flows, of virtual relationships and breakneck change appears to pose challenges to one and all.In Theories of the Information Society Frank Webster sets out to make sense of the information explosion, taking a sceptical look at what thinkers mean when they refer to the Information Society, and critically examining the major post-war theories and approaches to informational development. The 3rd edition of this classic study brings it right up to date both with new theoretical work and with social and technological changes – such as the rapid growth of the Internet and accelerated globalisation – and reassesses the work of key theorists in light of these changes.

Книга Джона Матиассона - Internet Governance. The New Frontier of Global Institutions

International institutions are evolving quickly as innovative approaches need to be adopted in order to deal with global problems that cannot be successfully addressed by the traditional system of nation-states. The expansion of the Internet has been called the most revolutionary development in the history of human communications. It is ubiquitous and is changing politics, economics, and social relations. Its borderless nature affects the roles of individuals,
the magic of the marketplace, and the problems of government regulation. As its development has increased apace, contradictions have arisen between existing regulatory regimes, private interests, government concerns, international norms, and national interests. Unlike most areas where there are global institutions, and the role of governments is predominant, the Internet is a field where the private sector and civil society each have a role as important or sometimes more important than governments. Based on international regime theory, this book analyses how the multistakeholder institutions have grown along with the Internet itself. John Mathiason shows how governance of the Internet began as a technical issue but became increasingly political as the management of critical resources began to conflict with other international regimes and the Internet Governance Forum was a compromise solution to a governance issue that did not fit neatly into existing institutional structures. These new institutions will set precedents for other areas where governance is necessary beyond the nation-state.
Internet Governance is an innovative multi-stakeholder approach to dealing with global problems and ideal reading for students, teachers, and researchers of politics of technology, digital politics, and governance.

Книга Джона Аллена - Topologies of Power. Beyond territory and networks

Topologies of Power amounts to a radical departure in the way that power and space have been understood. It calls into question the very idea that power is simply extended across a given territory or network, and argues that power today has a new-found ‘reach’. Topological shifts have subtly altered the reach of power, enabling governments, corporations and NGOs alike to register their presence through quieter, less brash forms of power than domination or overt control. In a world in which proximity and distance increasingly play across one another, topology offers an insight into how power remains continuous under transformation: the same but different in its ability to shape people’s lives. Drawing upon a range of political, economic and cultural illustrations, the book sets out a clear and accessible account of the topological workings of power in the contemporary moment. It will be invaluable for both students and academics in human geography, politics, sociology and cultural studies.

Книга Paolo Gerbaudo - Tweets and the Streets. Social Media and Contemporary Activism

"On the 29th of July 2011, I happened to be witness to the brutal eviction of the protest camp at Tahrir square in central Cairo. Erected on the 8th of July, the camp was the third in a series of mass sit-ins that had re-occupied the square since the fall of Hosni Mubarak, each publicised by its own Twitter hashtag carrying the date of its beginning: #Apr8, #Jun28 and #Jul8. Observing the scene from behind one of the green metal fences encircling the square, I saw platoons of soldiers trashing the tents erected on the roundabout. A group of around 200 protesters re-gathered on the side of the square nearest to the Mogamma, the grey headquarters of Egyptian bureaucracy, their bodies densely packed on the asphalt. After a few minutes the troops advanced in square formation and made their way into the crowd, their wooden sticks swinging in the air. The protestors resisted the first onslaught. But then came a second, and a third. The crowd began dispersing, fleeing the soldiers alone or in small groups".

Книга Michel S. Laguerre - The Multisite Nation. Crossborder Organizations, Transfrontier Infrastructure, and Global Digital Public Sphere

This book is an in-depth examination of the linking of homeland territory and population to its distributed overseas diaspora in the process of forming and operating as a cosmonation. This is not a new form of the nation because this model has informally been in existence for many years. Throughout the centuries, segments of nations have developed and prospered outside their homelands in foreign territories. What is new and the object of this investigation is that this mixing and interaction between the population of these different sites has not simply been carried out at the individual, group, associational, and institutional levels only, but also been incrementally set in laws and translated into public policy, allowing diasporans to obtain dual citizenship; vote in homeland presidential, legislative, and referendum elections; hold public sector positions in the homeland government; and be elected to serve or be represented in the homeland parliament. The formal recognition of these democratic rights, accompanied by the homeland effort to build crossborder bureaucratic infrastructure to ensure implementation, oversight, and state control, is a new development in the history of the nation.

Сборник - Social Media and Local Governments. Theory and Practice

Today, social media provide public institutions with new channels for rapidly spreading information, boosting transparency and accountability, self-promotion to improve their image in the public eye, methods for designing and delivering public services with citizens, improving policy making, and encouraging the cross-agency cooperation. In this context, social media can contribute to the emergence of citizenoriented, open, and participatory public administration. Taking the advantage of the opportunities offered by social media tools is not limited to central government. These tools can be platforms to exchange views, share information, deliver public service, engage the citizens, and trigger the debate regarding social and political problems at the local level. Thus, these platforms may bring about the adaptation of a new conception of local services and the roles of local politicians and their relationship with the citizens. In this context, this book focuses on the relationship between the local governments and social media.

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