Departmental Papers (ASC)
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
2008
Publication Source
New Media & Society
Volume
10
Issue
4
Start Page
625
Last Page
645
DOI
10.1177/1461444808093734
Abstract
This article examines how online political groups are co-opting internet technology from commercial interests to amplify various cooperative processes. After formulating a framework for praxis-based democratic theories of technology, I select four internet-based groups as institutional exemplars for analysis: Democratic Underground, Free Republic, Indymedia, and Move On.These groups implement distinct types of democratic applications of internet technology and embody specific strands of democratic theory. I conclude by commenting on the direction of internet-based democratic practices, their political efficacy in terms of strategy and tactics, and how they figure within US political culture.
Keywords
cyber activism, democratic theory, indymedia, internet activism, online political action, technology studies
Recommended Citation
Pickard, V. (2008). Cooptation and Cooperation: Institutional Exemplars of Democratic Internet Technology. New Media & Society, 10 (4), 625-645. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444808093734
Date Posted: 23 May 2016
This document has been peer reviewed.
Comments
Note: At the time of publication, author Victor Pickard was affiliated with the University of Illinois. Currently, he is a faculty member at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.