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Publication date: 1 April 1995

Anriette Esterhuysen

The thrust of the recent Internet ‘explosion’ in South Africa has mostly been about linking us to the global community. Perhaps the political reincorporation of South Africa into…

45

Abstract

The thrust of the recent Internet ‘explosion’ in South Africa has mostly been about linking us to the global community. Perhaps the political reincorporation of South Africa into the international community encouraged this tendency. However, this powerful tool has done little to link us to our nearest neighbours. This paper will look at current Internet connectivity in the Southern African region, assess the potential of such connectivity and make suggestions as to how regional connectivity, as well as use of the Internet, can be promoted. I will argue that electronic networking can play a critical role in facilitating closer cooperation in the region and outline how a broad and strategic vision of electronic networking in the region can help realise this role.

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The Electronic Library, vol. 13 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 1995

Neville Spicer

In setting the scene, in my editorial for the Proceedings of the Second Southern African Online Information Meeting (The Electronic Library, 11(4/5), August/October 1993), I…

90

Abstract

In setting the scene, in my editorial for the Proceedings of the Second Southern African Online Information Meeting (The Electronic Library, 11(4/5), August/October 1993), I considered attendance in relation to the ‘interesting and difficult times’ in which we then found ourselves as the country teetered towards the first democratic election. Much has changed since that miracle play acted out by millions of ordinary people in April 1994, and much continues to change as the rainbow nation struggles to take again its place in the international community. In spite of — maybe even because of — the euphoria following the election, the times are no less difficult and interesting. It was against this colourful backdrop that the Third Southern African Online Information Meeting was held on 6–9 June 1995. The effect of another colourful production, the Rugby World Cup, was another unsettling factor.

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The Electronic Library, vol. 13 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

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Article
Publication date: 1 June 2004

Noortje Marres

This article explores the ways in which actor‐network theory (ANT) invites an alternative account of democratic process, namely in terms of issue‐formation, which is particularly…

1263

Abstract

This article explores the ways in which actor‐network theory (ANT) invites an alternative account of democratic process, namely in terms of issue‐formation, which is particularly well suited to the study of democratic practices facilitated by information and communication technologies (ICT). Engaging with arguments that have been made in political theory in favor of the re‐invigoration of institutional and extra‐institutional forms of democratic debate, this article argues that a re‐valuation of issue‐politics is more than timely. In this respect, actor‐network theory is a particularly fruitful approach, since it provides the conceptual and methodological equipment to account for democracy in terms of processes of issue formation. Such an account of democracy, it is argued, is particularly appropriate to the study of ICT‐based democratic processes, since in the context of ICT distributed networks that configure around particular issues can be seen to emerge as the carriers of democratic process. Moreover, ANT provides the conceptual and methodological tools for the development of a research practice of tracing public controversies as they are enacted in such networks on the Web. In tracing a particular controversy on the Web, around the Development Gateway, a portal for development information set up by the World Bank, one begins to articulate an alternative understanding of the significance of ICT for institutional as well as extra‐institutional forms of democracy. A number of requirements on effective democratic action, as facilitated by ICT, are derived from the case study, which move beyond the requirement of social networking, i.e. the building of partnerships, and informational networking, i.e. the exchange of knowledge and opinion. Issue‐networking here comes to the fore as indispensable to democratic politics.

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Information Technology & People, vol. 17 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

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