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Searching for the Public in Internet Governance: Examining Infrastructures of Participation at NETmundial
Author(s) -
West Sarah Myers
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
policy and internet
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.281
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 1944-2866
DOI - 10.1002/poi3.143
Subject(s) - the internet , corporate governance , legitimacy , public sphere , internet governance , public relations , inclusion (mineral) , political science , sociology , public administration , public space , social science , business , law , politics , engineering , world wide web , computer science , architectural engineering , finance
The role of the public in Internet governance debates is a critical issue for policymaking, even more so as Internet governance forums encounter crises of legitimacy. This article examines the role of the public in Internet governance debates, drawing connections between theories of the public, science and technology studies, and Internet governance. It examines the architecture of public inclusion at the Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance (NETmundial). NETmundial emerged at a point when public legitimacy became particularly salient for the Internet governance community. So finding modes of inclusion for the rapidly growing, and increasingly diverse group of stakeholders in the governance debate was especially important for the meeting's success. This article links the debate to notions of the public sphere—both in shaping a discursive space central to public debate, the Internet, and by championing a particular form of public discourse, multistakeholderism. By drawing out these connections, the article both reflects upon and challenges ideas about how to achieve public inclusion in Internet governance.