The Internet, Democracy, and Democratization by Peter Ferdinand

Author:Peter Ferdinand [Ferdinand, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General
ISBN: 9780714650654
Google: 2nyt8aGe04IC
Amazon: B00B9KCG8O
Barnesnoble: B00B9KCG8O
Goodreads: 20206641
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2000-01-15T10:18:29+00:00

Conclusion

The foregoing has traced the broad contours of the Internet’s development as it has impacted upon the politics of African America and in so doing has sought to test the veracity of the two broad views of the likely impact of the Internet on politics introduced at the start. What can be concluded from this survey is that there are many reasons to doubt the Internet’s potential to serve as a mechanism to enhance participatory and communicative opportunities for the vast majority of African Americans. Above all, we have seen how, far from overcoming the effects of socio-economic disadvantage, the present development of the Internet rather points to ways in which such disadvantage is reinforced and even exacerbated on-line.

It is also clear, that as well as socio-economic disadvantage political disadvantage is also manifest in much of the on-line activity of mainstream political actors and their relationship (or lack of it) to African American constituencies. Here, again, far from offering a mechanism of escape from, or transcendence of, the constraints of ’real’ time and space, the character of much of African American on-line politics seems simply to mirror the pre-existing alienation of many African Americans from the political mainstream.

Given the current trajectory of African American politics in general, it seems unlikely these features of African American on-line experience will change very much in the immediate future. In these circumstances, and in lieu of simple resignation to this fate, it is, we have argued, both historically and theoretically appropriate to expand our view of the nature of African American politics and ask how such an expanded notion of the political makes itself felt on-line. Here, it was argued there are reasons to be more optimistic, although perhaps not for the reasons that optimists of the Internet’s potential have tended to cite. Rather in the midst of the increasing retrenchment of contemporary American politics along racial lines, there may be good reasons for African Americans themselves to find strength online in concentrated numbers before seeking to engage more directly in mainstream political activity. As was shown, however, such a move carries with it inherent dangers – of isolation and the entrenchment of racial divisions on-line. It will indeed be a test of the Internet’s potential to realize significant political opportunities for subaltern political groups, if it can avoid these dangers amongst African Americans and offer instead a viable means for their re-engagement with the political mainstream.

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