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ESA Conference: Ageing Societies, New Sociology
September 23-26, 2003 in Murcia, Spain
Two streams of sessions of the

Research Network 18: Sociology of Science and Technology (SSTNET)

Convenors:

Raymund Werle: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Köln, Germany (werle@mpi-fg-koeln.mpg.de)
Marja Häyrinen Alestalo: Dept. of Sociology, University of Helsinki, Finland (marja.alestalo@helsinki.fi)
Luísa Oliveira: DINÂMIA/ISCTE, Lisboa, Portugal (luisa.oliveira@iscte.pt)
Maarten Mentzel: 38 Johan de Wittstraat, 2334 AR Leiden, The Netherlands (m.a.mentzel@planet.nl)

First Stream: Governing Science and Technology in the Era of Globalization

Thursday Sept. 25
14.30 - 16.30 session 6 (Campus de La Merced)
Chair: Marja Häyrinen-Alestalo

6.2. Author(s): Papadakis, Nikos/Rozakis, Theodora

Institution: University of Crete; Department of Political Science (Papadakis, Nikos), Department of Philosophical Sciences (Rozakis, Theodora),
Professional Category: Senior Lecturer in Social & Educational Policy (Papadakis, Nikos), PhD Candidate (Rozakis, Theodora)
City: Crete
Country: Greece
E-mail: nep@pol.soc.uoc.gr

CONSTRUCTING THE "NETIZEN": POWER, KNOWLEDGE, EDUCATION AND CITIZENSHIP AND THE INTERNET. A POLITICAL-SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH

The paper deals with the emergence of the notion of "netizenship", in the context of the Knowledge Society which is strongly intensified by the Internet. Considering that the Internet was first invented by the US in order to regain the technological lead in the arms race, we can understand its close relation to power. Additionally, the Internet triggered a redistribution of power, due to its potentiality to diffuse unlimited information to any who seeks and is able to access it.

This diffusion of power to individuals — potentially — weakens traditional hierarchical structures, facilitates many types of transnational enterprises and subsequently reinforces both the globalised economy and the "growth-development" type of capitalism. Furthermore, in the context of the information society, discursive practices are reconstructed, usually harmonised with the "cyberspace techno- culture". The study

• initially focuses on the way that internet became a widespread information infrastructure,
• proceeds to conceptual and definitional clarifications concerning issues and concepts (such as "netizen", "netizenship", "cyber-community", "virtual reality"),
• examines the imaginary function and the contextual parameters of the cyber-community,
• searches for the new imaginary significances legitimated by the reinforcement of the Cyber- Society and its influence on "time" and "space"
• focuses on the influence of the Cyber-Society
  - on state policies in education (macro-level) and cognitive strategies developed by the educational systems (micro-level),
  - on the process of constructing new forms of citizenship in the post-industrial European societies,
  - on the relationship between training-educational policies and active labour policies,
• searches the changes in the higher education marketplace, towards a more productive, more cost-effective (and less critical;) research and education.

In conclusio: Cyber-Society is a challenge to the traditional models of society, especially in Europe. But what kind of challenge? Would the new "digital world" contribute to the emergence of a "non traditional" democracy or to the legitimated marginalization of the populations with no internet accessibility and to the increase of the socio-economical inequalities?

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Sociology of Science and Technology NETwork - last update: April 2006