Cécile Méadel

Françoise Massit-Follea, Cécile Méadel & Laurence Monnoyer-Smith (eds.)

Foreword Mireille Delmas-Marty

Paris, Presses des mines, Collection Sciences sociales, 2012

By Romain Badouard, Dominique Boullier, Herbert Burkert, Dominique Cardon, Mireille Delmas-Marty, Françoise Massit-Folléa, Paul Mathias, Cécile Méadel, Laurence Monnoyer-Smith, Francesca Musiani, Claudia Padovani, and Bernhard Rieder.

The ways in which the Internet is managed and controlled–often labeled as Internet Governance– are usually considered as standing on four main pillars: Technology, Market Laws, State Regulation and Uses. Nevertheless, its specific features, the consequences of the plurality of norms it involves and of the decision-making processes it entails are rarely addressed in a comprehensive analysis.
This book explores the Internet’s functioning both as a practical-intellectual experience and a political challenge. By means of several case studies, it proposes a substantial and reflexive treatment of multileveled, formal or informal Internet Politics.The book’s overall endeavor is to outline an understanding ofwhat is –or may be– a “digital common good”.
The authors are members of a European academic team gathered by the Vox Internet research program’s meetings. They adopt a multi-disciplinary approach, embedding technological innovation in the fi eld of social sciences (communication studies, sociology, law, political science and philosophy).