The movement from existence in analog spaces to existence in digital spaces demands that disciplinary International Relations reconsider the concepts of space and place which underpin its ideologies, and the notions of sovereignty these concepts engender. This movement is incomplete, and probably will always remain so; ‘truly’ digital spaces do not yet exist, at least for humans and states.
Digital spaces require analog infrastructure for their existence. MUDs, chat spaces, email systems: all these require for their existence the physical existence of computers, and the relays, switches, and cables which interconnect them. Thus, digital spaces (at present) do not exist absent analog ones: the difference is that the analog spaces required for digital spaces, due to the continuous move towards miniaturization in the computer and networking industries, continue to shrink, making the capital goods necessary for the existence of digital spaces much more mobile, and much less subject to the coercive power of the analog state.
Digital spaces require analog infrastructure for their existence. MUDs, chat spaces, email systems: all these require for their existence the physical existence of computers, and the relays, switches, and cables which interconnect them. Thus, digital spaces (at present) do not exist absent analog ones: the difference is that the analog spaces required for digital spaces, due to the continuous move towards miniaturization in the computer and networking industries, continue to shrink, making the capital goods necessary for the existence of digital spaces much more mobile, and much less subject to the coercive power of the analog state.
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| — | Christopher E. Couples, The National Information Infrastructure Initiative: Space, Discipline, War Machine. (via ajnabee) |
Anonymous
