Political Science (POLI) 480

Overview

The Politics of Cyberspace explores the emergence of the networked society, the information technology revolution, and the consequences for power, production, and culture as examined by such disciplines as political science, political economy, sociology, and communications. Throughout, the course views new information technologies as contested terrain that facilitates domination and resistance, fear and hope.

Beginning with the information-technology revolution and its effects on structures of power, the course examines how these technologies disperse power from the state and, in the process, move us from a surveillance state
to a surveillance society. At the broader level, as these new information technologies challenge state power, they make possible the global restructuring of capital. While capital and civil-society organizations have rapidly adapted to the logic of a networked society, the bureaucratic state struggles to adjust. Moreover, the creation of a global informational economy has met with increased resistance from those who view it as a form of domination. These include such different movements as the Zapatistas of Mexico, the anti-corporate globalization movement, and al Qaeda. This resistance, like the global information economy it struggles against, is assisted by new information technologies.

Outline

Unit 1: Introduction

Unit 2: Cyberspace: A Realm of Control or a Realm Beyond Control?

Unit 3: The Informational Economy and the Process of Globalization

Unit 4: The Rise of the Networked Organization

Unit 5: The Global Informational Economy, the State, and Culture

Unit 6: Globalization, ICTs, and the Politics of Resistance

Unit 7: Patriarchy and Feminism in the Information Age

Unit 8: Digital Democracy: Concepts and Issues

Unit 9: Digital Democracy, E-Governance, and E-Government

Unit 10: Digital Democracy, Political Parties, and the Political Process

Unit 11: The Future of ICTs: Control or Emancipation?

Evaluation

To receive credit for POLI 480, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least “D” (50 percent). The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

Assign 1: Critical Assessment Essay	Assign 2: Term Paper Proposal	Assign 3: Short Essay	Assign 4: Term Paper	Total
20%	20%	15%	45%	100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.