Page 330 - The ISA Handbook in Contemporary Sociology

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MODELING OF DIGITAL FUTURES 301

the digital futures are primarily framed in global communication relations. The ways in
terms of marketable property rights and not in which NICT can be used depends on aspects
a language of human rights to access informa- of national and international policy, such as
tion and communication? How are images of privacy, censorship, surveillance, taxability
digital futures imagined, by whom, and with of economic transactions, consumer protec-
what implications for broader concerns such tion, rights to information and communica-
as social equality and democratic efficacy? tion, administrative transparency, intellectual
Applying the concepts of conflict, compe- property rights or privileges, regulatory con-
tition, and cooperation as heuristic devices to trol, standard-setting authority, and dispute
an analysis of how the NICT are being resolution procedures.
shaped, not only contributes to overcoming The course and mode of the diffusion and
resilient assumptions of technological deter- shaping of NICT is not an historical ‘automa-
minism but also helps to open the horizon for tism’. Social actors are not just passively
broader empirical and normative debates and impacted by new technology. They can,
for the imagination of alternative futures. In rather, impact the way these are implemented
this chapter, the contrast between alternative to the extent of their active appropriation and
trajectories was used to indicate what is at involvement in regulatory processes. As stud-
stake in the shaping of the technological pre- ies critical of technological determinism sug-
conditions of social communication. gest, technology is a product of its ‘social
NICT exclusion is not merely another shaping’, a process dynamically determined
dimension of social inequality; it increases by technicians, developers, corporations,
existing inequalities. The already marginal- inter-governmental organizations, national
ized parts of the population are exposed to legislators, lobby groups, users, and con-
the acute danger that digital marginalization sumers, interacting within specific socio-
pushes them even further to the edge. economic, legal-administrative, cultural and
This presents a major barrier to democratic political environments. Some actors appear
inclusion and global social equity. In the to have more influence than others. The
absence of broader access policies, the new question now is whether NICT will be
digital inequalities are exacerbating the exist- shaped more by corporate interests or by
ing social inequalities within and across actors in civil society in the North and in the
countries. South?
What is the solution? Waiting for a trickle- The power of consumers operates accord-
down of NICT is certainly not enough. That ing to the binary code of buying or not
would only deepen the existing inequalities buying. The power of users rests on the cre-
during the diffusion period because those ative use of a given technology. NGOs, such
who can make effective use of NICT have a as the San Francisco-based, globally active
relative advantage over those who cannot, Association for Progressive Communication
thus diminishing the chances for any leap- (APC) or the Mexican LaNeta, boosted
frogging. Moreover, when considering how the use of computer-mediated communica-
quickly the development of new hardware tion among grassroots actors through the pro-
and software makes older versions obsolete, vision of network access and technical
continuous investment seems to be required expertise. The Internet-savvy transnational
more than in the case of technologies with supporters of the Zapatistas pioneered
early maturity and relatively negligible sub- global cyber-activism, disseminating alterna-
sequent refinements that do not undermine tive information, linking activists, and mobi-
their interoperability. lizing campaigns around the world. Yet, these
Access and access quality are only the types of activities might not impact those
most basic issues in the establishment of new other aspects of the shaping processes that