Being Digital
May 2, 2008
Filed under love thy country
Tags: internet, nationalism, negroponte, smallpox
In summary it can be said that many of the predictions Negroponte made about the future of the internet have been correct. “We will socialize in digital neighborhoods in which physical space will be irrelevant and time will play a different role” – sounds like social software to me. However, his bold claim, that “there will be no more room for nationalism than there is for smallpox” has yet become true. While the internet as a communication medium has clearly changed the way we interact it has not offered a replacement for national identity. Being Digital has not replaced being British or German or French. On the contrary, the internet, as some examples have shown, can be a platform to spread and uphold nationalism. Furthermore, the concept that the nation state cannot be upheld in a digital environment has also been addressed, showcasing examples of state censorship online.
Finally, it must be said that this entire argument falls victim to issues of definition. Nationalism and Nation State are not easily defined, as I tried to point out in my earlier entries. The same year Negroponte made this claim, Habermas, a political scientist, also predicted the end of nation states, and their replacement by supra governmental bodies. It would be hard to argue, that they are talking about the same concept of nation state. Having pointed that out, I would like to say that if there is an antidote to nationalism, it is probably not the internet itself, but, the internet might function as the syringe.
Evidence
May 2, 2008
Filed under love thy country
Tags: ban, Censorship, China, internet, tibet
In order to better show the ability of nation states imposing online borders have chosen a recent example. Most interestingly, the two articles I had bookmarked about China blocking digital content on the Tibet situation are no longer accessible. Link1: Associated Press China blocks ‘youtube’ over Tibet videos and Link2 was the same story by WAPT. Usually everthing is archived for a longer period… but I cannot prove that this is evidence of censorship.
Luckily, the article reporting on the lifting of the ban is still available. Here you can read about what had been done in the first place.
Censorship 2.0
May 2, 2008
Filed under love thy country
Tags: Censorship, China, internet, Opennet
At the other end of Negroponte’s argument one might find the idea that the nation state cannot control the internet, that the sovereignty of the state does not extend into the noosphere. This idea certainly has some validity seeing that governments have hard times imposing a variety of laws in the internet. However, this is not necessarily due to the nation state becoming obsolete. Organizations all over the world track the censorship of the internet by the state. It seems that more totalitarian regimes have found a way to impose the borders of the nation state even online.
First, check out this ‘youtube’ Listening Post clip from Al Jazeera about the censorship in China:
Also, these maps from opennet.net are interesting. Visit their website to see all the information on this issue on other thematic maps.
Clearly, there is more to say about online censorship. And it does not online happen in the Middle East and China. Check out this article on censorship in the US. Even in Europe there is censorship and online restrictions like for the trading of Nazi memorabilia or child pornography.
Finally, it is safe to say that the internet’s anarchic structure poses difficult issues for the nation state, however, if a country is determined to control the internet there are ways.
Nationalism 2.0
In this post I would like to show how the Internet can be instrumentalized by user with nationalist motives in order to further their cause. Certainly, this does not directly contradict the quote by Negroponte but it supports McLuhan’s idea that the internet as a medium is just an extension of our body and can broadcast anything and everything.
I wrote an essay about the use of the Internet by Nazis at the University of Muenster which is available on request. I argue that the internet has become the most important recruitment device for right wing extremism, which is the case also in England and the United States. In order to keep this short and interesting I will not go into too much detail, however, if anyone wants to just ‘google’ the for their local national party I am sure you can find everything from free music to online magazines like the BNP’s ‘Identity’ (see Flickr).
The following examples refer to nationalism activities online in Germany, but, as stated above this content could be found in most countries. This link will take you to the report by the German organization for the protection of youth, they showcase the development of Nazi websites. In addition you can check out the ‘youtube’ video below which talks about the German National Party NPD attempting to use ‘youtube’ to broadcast a weekly ‘news’ program.
This possible examples are uncountable, however, the point becomes clear that just like the internet can be used to spread the ‘Anarchist Cookbook’ it can be spread ‘Mein Kampf’. Not only that, ‘youtube’, blogs, internet radio and social software are all used in the promotion of nationalism.
Nationalism
March 6, 2008
Filed under love thy country
Tags: anderson, de gaulle, definition, nationalism, patriotism, rau
Any scientific discussion requires a working definition of the phenomenon it is trying to assess. The same applies to this project, so let’s check the noosphere for information on the definition of nationalism, nationalist theory and differentiation from similar phenomenons like patriotism.
na·tion·al·ism
n.
1. Devotion to the interests or culture of one’s nation.
2. The belief that nations will benefit from acting independently rather than collectively, emphasizing national rather than international goals.
3. Aspirations for national independence in a country under foreign domination.
Wikipedia has compiled a lot more information on the topic, offering an entire typology of different nationalisms. Unfortunatly the Enclopedia Britannica requires a login to view the entire entry.
The nationalism project offers additional insights on the topic delivering another definition and discussing literature on the topic of nationalism.
Now that we have a definition of nationalism we must look at its history. How was it created and could it even be eradicated? One of the most influential theories on nationalism is Benedict Anderson’s piece on ‘imagined communities’. Anderson explains the history and development of nationalism as a result of capitalist print. There are many good points in Anderson’s work and it offers a enough material to write an essay solely on his thoughts. However, it would be beyond the scope of this project. Importantly we must remember that Anderson says that that pre-national culture was religious culture. Nations replaced this religious culture with their own uniquely constructed national cultures. Hence, technically of nationalism was born out of the downfall of another form of cultural identity it could also be replaced by another.
Having briefly covered definition, history and theory of nationalism we must distinguish nationalism from similar phenomons like patriotism. Charles de Gaulle, former French president, and Johannes Rau, former German president, have both been quoted saying that patriotism is the love for your own country nationalism is hate for others peoples country. If we consider this thought together with point 2. (The belief that nations will benefit from acting independently rather than collectively, emphasizing national rather than international goals.) from above we will be able to spot and distinguish nationalist content and activity in the internet.
On Topic
March 5, 2008
Filed under love thy country
Tags: einstein, eradication, internet, measles, nationalism, negroponte, smallpox
“The role of the nation state will change dramatically and there will be no more room for nationalism than there is for smallpox.”(Negroponte 1996 Being Digital, London: Hodder & Stoughton: 236)
Because this project is part of a seminar on information societies and the digital sphere these entries will focus on the Negroponte quotation in context to the internet. It has been more than 10 years since Nicholas Negroponte proclaimed the future Death and in contrary to the Nietsche dilemma both are still alive. But, as stated in my mission statement, Negroponte never said exactly when there will be no more room for nationalism.
This blog project will further explore how much room nationalism has especially in context to digital society and the internet. Before we go on and explore what nationalism is we should probably fully understand the quote. Most of it might be comprehensible, but what are smallpox and how much room do they have? Well, we best ask the people who killed them, namely the WHO.
“Smallpox was officially declared eradicated in 1979.”
Hence, Negroponte proclaims the eradication of nationalism. Interestingly enough Negroponte is not the first scientist to compare nationalism to a desease. Einstein said:
Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.
Albert Einstein
Evenmore interesting, measles and smallpox were initially regarded as the same disease until the Persian physician Ibn Razi (Rhazes) 860-932 published a book entitled “The Book of Smallpox and Measles” (in Arabic: Kitab fi al-jadari wa-al-hasbah). While smallpox have been eradicated, measles unfortunately still is a dangerous illness. Let’s find out whether Negroponte just made a ‘pre-Rhazian’ mistake.
Coming up next: Nationalism – what is it? And why everyone who is not from my country is a big fat idiot!
