Dr. Perry Morrison wrote:
Another way to put it is that the developed are quite happy to inform
the undeveloped on the practical things they need to do to redress their
situation. However the developed are not that keen on being told of the
political dimensions/causations of underdevelopment and their
continuing role in it.
Sadly, absolutely right
It doesn't matter if the internet megaphone is now a hundred
times bigger, the developed world simply puts on a better set of
blinkers and earmuffs.
Well, if we are, as you are, talking history, it can be argued that
competing political political interests are sometimes resolved through
conflict but sometimes through accomodation. At times when the latter
is attempted, the earmuffs sometimes come off.
Once more, the causal roots of many of these problems have nothing to do
with megaphones, blinkers or IP technologies. They're about politics. We
can solve some of the practical problems with technology. But technology
alone won't solve political problems. No matter how much technology you
have, you still have to do the politics. And in most cases the lingua
franca is what it has always been - power politics such as boycotts,
strikes, political and economic unions amongst groups and countries
etc. etc. Historically it has been these messages that have been
understood more clearly than 10,000 emails from Africa.
I agree you have to do the politics but you also need to think about how
information exchanges and the technology which supports them are
affecting not only how you do those politics but the whole context in
which they take place.
Firstly, politics are not just about 'petitioning the powerful'. By
enhancing the ability of the powerless to communicate and collaborate
with each other (something which the poor and isolated have always found
more difficult than the rich and connected), the Internet does offer a
relative advantage to the powerless.
Secondly, although the current world order may appear absolutely
entrenched, the times when power relations change most are exactly those
when there are fundamental changes in the mode of production - changes
which the frequent assertions that the information revolution is as
significant as the industrial revolution would appear to anticipate. New
modes of production will offer new opportunities for the powerless to
organise themselves to promote their interests. These opportunities may
be analagous to, albeit almost certainly different in form from, the
power of organised labour over the last two centuries. Whether this
will offer a relative improvement in power relationships or the reverse
is, I would think, too early to say.
If anyone is interested in this line of argument, it is sketched out in
more detail in a 'debates' contribution to the Review of African
Political Economy no 88, 2001 - 'Knowledge, culture and the internet in
Africa: a challenge for political economists'
All the best
Mike Powell
***GKD is an initiative of the Global Knowledge Partnership***
To post a message, send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]. In the 1st line of the message type:
subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd
Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at:
http://www.globalknowledge.org
