Power, Hierarchy, and the Internet: Why the Internet Empowers and Disempowers

R. Mansell
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引用次数: 8

Abstract

This paper examines some of the reasons for the persistent debate about whether the Internet is empowering or disempowering for civil society actors. The Internet is sometimes associated with the end of hierarchy because of its technical architecture and, at other times, with a disempowering lack of transparency. In the “big data” era power relations are giving rise to hierarchy, notwithstanding the flat architecture of the Internet. The paper considers models of governance to demonstrate that available models are ambiguous with regard to the exercise of governing authority. It concludes that mediated communication is neither wholly exploitative nor liberating. What it is in practice is conditioned by the ways in which authority is articulated through institutional norms. Research is needed to better understand the mix of governance models operating in practice and on the extent to which this leads to disturbances that give rise to unpredictable outcomes for citizens.
权力、等级和互联网:为什么互联网赋予权力和剥夺权力
本文探讨了关于互联网是否赋予公民社会行动者权力的持续争论的一些原因。由于互联网的技术架构,它有时与等级制度的终结联系在一起,有时又与缺乏透明度联系在一起。在“大数据”时代,权力关系正在产生等级制度,尽管互联网的架构是扁平的。本文考虑了治理模型,以证明可用的模型在治理权力的行使方面是模糊的。它的结论是,中介沟通既不是完全剥削,也不是完全解放。它在实践中的作用取决于权威通过制度规范表达的方式。需要进行研究,以更好地了解在实践中运行的治理模式组合,以及这在多大程度上导致对公民产生不可预测结果的干扰。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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