The Real Cyber War: The Political Economy of Internet Freedom (The History of Communication) by Powers Shawn M. & Jablonski Michael

Author:Powers, Shawn M. & Jablonski, Michael [Powers, Shawn M.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780252097102
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Published: 2015-03-20T04:00:00+00:00

The proposed power shift not only rubbed the Americans the wrong way, it also troubled powerful nongovernment groups. According to Sally Wentworth, ISOC’s head of public policy, “The resolution shifted the emphasis from community and consensus to centralization through government action.”18 Many in the developing world, as well as China and Russia, counter by arguing that the current MSP is a result of a Clinton administration design that continues to benefit American interests. Nevertheless, thus far multistakeholderism has a nice, diplomatic ring to it, while it continues to function as a productive means of furthering raw geopolitical intentions.

Before analyzing how the current MSP replicates existing geopolitical and economic power relationships, this chapter will explore the origins of multistakeholder decision-making processes and identify the underlying assumptions behind such negotiations grounded in multistakeholderism.

Theories of Multistakeholderism

MSPs emerged as a means of resolving conflicts over natural resources, first in the developing world and later as a global phenomenon. Such processes typically occur, according to Steins and Edwards, when “decision-making bodies (voluntary or statutory) comprising different stakeholders who perceive the same resource management problem, realise their interdependence for solving it, and come together to agree on action strategies for solving the problem.”19 The term stakeholder refers to “those who have an interest in a particular decision, either as individuals or representatives of a group. This includes people who influence a decision, or can influence it, as well as those affected by it.”20 Today, MSPs are used to try and resolve any number of “metaproblems,”21 or complex, public challenges that cannot be solved unilaterally or in isolation due to high levels of interdependence.

Two primary motivations drive state interest toward MSPs. First, when a broad group of actors collectively have more information or knowledge than the central governmental authority, then governments often decide to turn to them for assistance. Second, if states are concerned about the perceived legitimacy of a policy, they can turn to the multistakeholder processes to demonstrate that a decision has broad, democratically instilled buy-in from interested parties. Much of the research on MSPs was based on resource disputes within a particular legal jurisdiction, such as a single federal state (like California) or single country. MSPs focus on creating a consensus among actors, whereby each stakeholder acknowledges that the proposed solution is acceptable, even if it does not reflect its ideal preference.

Multistakeholderism is grounded in a Habermasian conception of rational, ethical, public arguments among interested parties as a means of resolving legitimate ideational differences. It presumes that strategic actors, in the right setting and by embracing shared norms, can disregard their political motivations and pressures to deliberate, listen, adjust perspectives, and come into an agreement regarding a matter of public concern.22 Researchers often refer to this as the Habermasian ideal speech situation, as real world examples of such conditions are few and far between.23 Moreover, Habermasian approaches are often criticized by minority groups as being elitist and exclusionary, failing to account properly for disenfranchised stakeholders unable to participate. That said, many continue to point

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