Mary, I have looked at the Internet from the perspective of public sphere or commons versus private property. I used the writings of John Locke as my theoretical basis and drew the conclusion that the net is a public space or commons to be protected from efforts at privatization. You might find my work interesting. There is a draft at: http://www.ais.org/~jrh/icann/locke.txt I had hoped to present a talk based on this paper at the 2002 AoIR conference but ended up doing a workshop on Internet history. Good luck with your chapter and defense of "alternative public spheres". Take care. Jay Mary wrote:
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 12:08:22 -0400 From: "Mary L. Gray" <mlgray@ucsd.edu> To: AIR List <air-l@aoir.org> Subject: [Air-l] Webspace as public spheres Reply-To: air-l@aoir.org
Hello all : )
I'm working on a chapter right now that looks at personal websites and blog= s crafted by rural LGBT youth as "alternative public spheres" or counterpublics. I'm mostly relying on theorists dealing with the creation and meaning of public spheres (Habermas, Fraser, Warner), but I'd love to hear of other folks know of solid work out there specifically dealing with the Net as public space?
And extra points if anyone has suggestions for readings on commercializing of privatizing of public space vis-=E0-vis Walmart : )
All the best, Dissertating Mary ________________________________ Mary L. Gray <mlgray@ucsd.edu> Department of Communication University of California, San Diego vox: 502/451.5003 mail: PO Box 4004, Louisville, KY 40204 http://weber.ucsd.edu/~mgray