Technology design and power: Freedom and control in communication networks [r-libre/992]

Shepherd, Tamara, & Landry, Normand (2013). Technology design and power: Freedom and control in communication networks. International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics, 9 (3), 259-275. https://doi.org/10.1386/macp.9.3.259_1

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Item Type:	Journal Articles
Refereed:	Yes
Status:	Published
Abstract:	The design of technologies with particular sets of affordances for user action reflects and embeds particular socio-political values in the technological artefacts themselves. In relation to networked communication technologies like the internet, design values of openness and decentralization accord with the hegemonic value of freedom as an inherently positive social and political concept. Yet freedom is also an elastic concept that contains the possibility for the freedom of powerful interests to exert controls – technological, state, and legal – over the very networks designed to facilitate freedom. This article reviews how such controls are made manifest, with a particular focus on the role of technology design, in the areas of surveillance, censorship, and intellectual property. It then concludes by addressing how such controls might be resisted using the affordances of open and decentralized networks. The interplay between freedom and control in communication networks is crucial for the construction of contemporary modes of citizenship, publics, and participation.
Official URL:	http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/mc...
Depositor:	Landry, Normand
Owner / Manager:	Normand Landry
Deposited:	17 Aug 2016 19:54
Last Modified:	17 Aug 2016 19:54

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