Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
More broadly, the internet may help to foster a relational ontology of space and
place and corresponding alternative geographic imaginaries, in which identity is
defined through lines of power and feelings of belonging and responsibility rather than
simple proximity (Bennett
2003
;Massey
2009
). Vivid pictures and films of atrocities
and injustices circulating over the internet can have powerful impacts in raising
awareness about a variety of issues. Indeed, formal ideologies, political parties, and
elections may be giving way to network-based identity and lifestyle politics. In
facilitating rhizomatic networks of power, the internet can be an agent for the gen-
eration of geographies of compassion and empathy that stand in sharp contrast to
xenophobic discourses of hate and exclusion. Such a view is in keeping with the
emerging literature on geographies of care and the ethics of responsibility (Lawson
2007
), particularly in the face of the neoliberal assault on state-funded interventions in
the sphere of reproduction and the associated growth of discourses of individual,
rather than collective, responsibility. In such a context, the moral community to which
each person owes an obligation is, by definition, worldwide, generating an obligation
to ''care at a distance,'' in which the concerns of distant strangers are held to be as
important as those of people nearby (Ginzburg
1994
; Corbridge
1998
).
Overreliance on the internet can in fact undermine other forms of political
action: as Johnston and Laxer (
2003
, p. 64) ask, ''Is Internet solidarity a lazy
activism of e-mail petitions, or simply a convenient tool to facilitate grass-roots
organizing?'' Notably, Internet use by itself does not necessarily lead to height-
ened interest in political issues or greater participation. Ayres (
1999
) asserts that
cyber-activism's ''politics at a distance'' has displaced traditional street-based
forms of protest such as marches, which are far more telegenic and visible locally.
Likewise, Morozov (
2011
) cautions against the easy substitution of signing email
petitions for real political action. Social movements that rely exclusively on the
internet to foment long-term linkages are unlikely to succeed: cyberspace is a
complement, not a substitute, for ''real world'' contacts. In this sense, the internet
is not only social groups' greatest asset, but their Achilles' heel as well. Thus, the
internet spawns movements that are not quite true cohesive communities in the
classic sense of the word, but more than coincidental coordinations of isolated
groups. Deibert (
2000
, p. 264) maintains that ''What the Internet has generated is
indeed a new 'species'—a cross-national network of citizen activists linked by
electronic mailing lists and World Wide Web home pages that vibrate with
activity, monitoring the global political economy like a virtual watchdog.''
Moreover, politically active individuals are likely to be active with or without the
internet (Van Aelst and Walgrave
2002
).
6.4 Conclusions
Telemediated social media—including mobile phones, the internet, email,
Facebook, and blogs—are now used by a substantial share of the planet's popu-
lation. Sixty percent of the world uses mobile phones, one-third uses the internet,
