Suchergebnisse

Intro -- TECHNOLOGY AND INTERNATIONAL TRANSFORMATION -- CONTENTS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- 1. THINKING ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND INTERNATIONAL POLITICS -- 2. INTERNATIONAL SYSTEMS THEORY, TECHNOLOGY, AND TRANSFORMATION -- 3. EARLY INDUSTRIALIZATION AND THE INDUSTRIALIZATION OF WAR -- 4. THE ATOMIC BOMB AND THE SCIENTIFIC STATE -- 5. CONCLUSION -- NOTES -- INDEX -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z.

This essay develops a theoretical framework for understanding the connection between technological transformations and change in the international system and puts the information revolution in its proper context — as another in a line of technology-system transformations. The analysis proceeds in two steps: first I conceptualise technology as politics. Technology is inherently political in at least two ways: the construction of technologies is subject to political contestation and technology can be understood as a certain kind of practical knowledge, embedded in material artefacts and in the institutions built to manage them. The second step draws on Buzan and Little's idea of interaction capacity to conceptualise technology as a component of the international political system. This two-step approach draws our attention to the national and transnational institutions that develop new technologies and to the international systemic dimension of certain socio-technical systems. In the end, this approach provides a framework for understanding technological change, including the information revolution, in an international political context. In particular, it draws attention to political debate over the shape and content of a global information infrastructure.

This essay develops a theoretical framework for understanding the connection between technological transformations & change in the international system & puts the information revolution in its proper context -- as another in a line of technology-system transformations. The analysis proceeds in two steps: first I conceptualize technology as politics. Technology is inherently political in at least two ways: the construction of technologies is subject to political contestation & technology can be understood as a certain kind of practical knowledge, embedded in material artifacts & in the institutions built to manage them. The second step draws on Buzan & Little's idea of interaction capacity to conceptualize technology as a component of the international political system. This two-step approach draws our attention to the national & transnational institutions that develop new technologies & to the international systemic dimension of certain sociotechnical systems. In the end, this approach provides a framework for understanding technological change, including the information revolution, in an international political context. In particular, it draws attention to political debate over the shape & content of a global information infrastructure. Adapted from the source document.

This article addresses the issue of the information revolution and international affairs. It makes three arguments. First, the evolution of a global digital information network is likely to diminish state capacity and autonomy, but the specific nature of the effects of new information technologies are indeterminate because the technology and the politics are inextricably intertwined and the technology itself is not yet 'complete'. Second, the effects of a mature digital information infrastructure are best understood as the outcome of a three-way political struggle between centralized political authorities (states), centralized economic entities (firms) and individuals as both consumers and citizens. Third, in spite of the indeterminacy of technological change, a matrix of possible outcomes can be constructed. The globalization argument is partially correct: state capacities will drop, relatively speaking, and firm capacities will increase unless states and people can reconceptualize their relationship and guide technological development to suit their interests. The article analyses three representative pieces of a mature global digital information network—the physical network media, cryptography, and digital money—to show how the new information technologies are deeply political and their effects therefore indeterminate.