Power, Information Technology, and International Relations Theory [electronic resource] : The Power and Politics of US Foreign Policy and the Internet /
McCarthy, D.author.
This book examines the internet as a form of power in global politics. Focusing on the United States' internet foreign policy, McCarthy combines analyses of global material culture and international relation theory, to reconsider how technology is understood as a form of social power.
Description based upon print version of record.
Cover; Title; Copyright; Contents; Acknowledgements; List of Acronyms; 1 Introduction; The conceptual place of technology in International Relations; Technology, facets of power and 'the International'; American foreign policy and Internet politics; Analysing policy rhetoric: discourse analysis and foreign policy narratives; Plan of the book; 2 Power and Information Technology: Determinism, Agency, and Constructivism; Introduction; Technological instrumentalism: emphasizing agency?; Technological essentialism: the power of objects; Techno-optimists: progress without power
Techno-pessimists and structuralist determinismThe social construction of information technology: between essentialism and instrumentalism; Power, momentum, and the political economy of technology; Conclusion; 3 A Historical Materialist Approach to Technological Power in International Relations; Introduction; Marxist technological instrumentalism; Evolving towards socialism: optimistic Marxist technological essentialism; Degenerating into barbarism: pessimistic technological essentialism; A critical theory of technology; Power, information technology and 'the International'
Structural power: rights and resources in technological designProductive power: defining technological design; States and capitals in the international politics of technology; The institutional power of material culture; Conclusion; 4 US Foreign Relations and the Institutional Power of the Internet; Introduction; The Open Door tradition; Bush and Obama: changes within a liberal constellation; Free markets, free societies, and the free flow of information; Pursuing net dividends: saturation and market expansion; Opening doors at a distance: the power of the Internet
Disconnection costs: rejecting Internet valuesThe Internet as a market and the uneven global economy; Conclusion: closure and the Open Door; 5 Pursuing Technological Closure: Symbolic Politics, Legitimacy, and Internet Filtering; Introduction; Human rights and Internet openness; '21st century democracy promotion'; 'With great code comes great responsibility'; Conclusion; 6 The Narration of Innovation in US Internet Policy; Introduction; Property rights and models of software innovation; Linking property, the private sector, and innovation
Between politics and piracy: locating the identity of the private sectorThe threat of Internet piracy; Not by narrative alone: technological closure and structural power; Conclusion; 7 Conclusion; Historical materialism and the international politics of technology; The future of US power after Snowden; International Relations and technology: future directions; Appendix: Discourse Analysis Guide; Notes; Bibliography; Index
Includes bibliographical references and index.
This book examines the internet as a form of power in global politics. Focusing on the United States' internet foreign policy, McCarthy combines analyses of global material culture and international relation theory, to reconsider how technology is understood as a form of social power.
Political sociology.
International relations.
Europe-Politics and government.
Political science.
World politics.
Globalization.
Political Sociology.
International Relations.
European Politics.
Political Science.
Political History.
Globalization.