Notes towards a Political History of the Internet 1950–1983

2000 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Streeter

Starling from the premise that communication regulation can be made up of informal shared systems of human belief, action and habit, this paper explores the informal political belief systems that helped regulate the Internet during its gestation, before 1984. The article focuses on the odd fact that a decentralised communication system with a strikingly libertarian ethos was created within a military-oriented research and development enterprise famous for its hierarchical, authoritarian culture and organisation. Broadly, my argument is that the larger framework of Internet development was ‘corporate liberal’ — that is, based on the theory that non-profit structures are necessary for advanced forms of experimental technological innovation, but that practical implementation is then best left to the private sector. Within that larger framework, however, a shift in the cultural habits and values within the community of computer scientists between the late 1960s and the early 1980s, partly under the influence of the Viernam War-era counterculture, allowed a distinctive vision of computer communication to take hold: computer communication as a horizontal form of collaboration. This cultural shift then helps explain how a technological system born in the heart of the military–industrial complex came to embody distinctly non-military values.

Author(s):  
Timofey V. Alekseev ◽  

The paper deals with the history of the Olonets metal works – one of the centres of military industry in pre-revolutionary Russia. It aimed to analyse the views of Russian researchers on the problems of military production at these plants and their role in providing the army and navy with weapons in the 18th – еarly 20th centuries. The works of the pre-revolutionary, Soviet, and post-Soviet periods were studied. The relevance of this research is substantiated by the need for an in-depth examination of such a phenomenon in Russian history as the military-industrial complex and its prototype represented by the military industry of pre-revolutionary Russia. The article is focused on the way Russian historiography presents the organization of military production at the Olonets metal works, their technical reconstruction in order to master the production of brand new types of weapons, as well as the role of foreign specialists and foreign technical, technological and organizational experience in this process. The study revealed some important features of the Olonets metal works operation: the use of the economy’s mobilization mechanisms for their creation, their role as a transmitter of military production experience to other Russian regions, the influence of non-economic factors on the existence of military industry enterprises, as well as the effect and significance of diffusion of innovations in military industry. It is concluded that the final period in the history of the Olonets metal works (late 19th – early 20th centuries) is poorly reflected in Russian historiography. In addition, the research points out the need for a comprehensive work on the history of military production at the Olonets metal works in general.


Kavkaz-forum ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 90-100
Author(s):  
Ф.С. Киреев

В статье анализируются причины возвращения войсковой системы самоуправления Терского казачества и показан сам процесс создания выборности войсковой власти. Актуальность исследования казачьего самоуправления обусловлена необходимостью теоретического обоснования и практического осуществления самоорганизации казачества России. Исторический анализ процесса организации самоуправления Терского казачества на войсковом уровне может послужить фундаментом для лучшего понимания и оценки современных процессов и явлений в казачьей среде и поможет выстраиванию государственной политики в отношении казачества в современной России. В отечественной историографии отсутствуют работы, посвященные конкретно восстановлению выборности власти в Терском казачьем войске. Поэтому научная новизна исследования определяется тем, что впервые предпринята попытка хронологической реконструкции истории создания войсковой системы самоуправления Терского казачества. Методологической основой исследования является принцип историзма, что предусматривает изучение момента возникновения исторического события и этапы его развития. Анализ событий на Тереке в 1917 г. показывает, что терские казаки смогли самоорганизоваться, создать полноценное административно-территориальное образование, и лишь изменение социально-политической ситуации в России в целомпомешало укрепить и продолжить это начинание. Еще необходимо отметить, что терские казаки к моменту восстановления войскового самоуправления подошли уже с готовыми проектами соответствующих документов, что позволило Терскому войску первым среди других войск создать свою выборную власть. Это говорит о высоком интеллектуальном потенциале в среде терских казаков. The article analyzes the reasons for the restoration of the military system of self-government of the Terek Cossacks and shows the very process of creating the elective military power. The relevance of the study of Cossack self-government is due to the need for theoretical justification and practical implementation of the self-organization of the Cossacks of Russia. Historical analysis of the process of organizing self-government of the Terek Cossacks at the military level can serve as a foundation for better understanding and assessment of modern processes and phenomena in the Cossack environment and will help to build state policy towards the Cossacks in modern Russia. In the Russian historiography, there are no works devoted specifically to the restoration of the election of power in the Terek Cossack army. Therefore, the scientific novelty of the research is determined by the fact that for the first time an attempt was made to chronologically reconstruct the history of the creation of the military system of self-government of the Terek Cossacks. The methodological basis of the research is the principle of historicism, with its focus on the study of the moment of occurrence of a historical event and the stages of its development. An analysis of the events on the Terek in 1917 shows that the Terek Cossacks were able to organize themselves and create a full-fledged administrative-territorial entity and only a change in the socio-political situation in Russia as a whole was placed, strengthened and continued this initiative. It should also be noted that the Terek Cossacks, by the time of the restoration of military self-government, came up with ready-made drafts of relevant documents, which allowed the Terek army to be the first among other troops to create their own elected power. This indicates a high intellectual potential among the Terek cossacks.


Author(s):  
Shawn M. Powers ◽  
Michael Jablonski

This chapter examines the emergence of an Information-Industrial Complex in the United States, tracking the rise of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the modern knowledge economy. It first outlines the origins and history of Information-Industrial Complex's antecedent, the Military-Industrial Complex, before turning to the beginnings of the Information-Industrial Complex itself. It then considers how the U.S. government has cultivated a close and codependent relationship with companies involved in information production, storage, processing, and distribution, referred to as the “information industries.” It also looks at In-Q-Tel, a corporation that would “ensure that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) remains at the cutting edge of information technology advances and capabilities,” along with the rise of information assurance after 9/11. The chapter concludes by highlighting the commodification of digital information in the post-9/11 environment through its securitization.


Author(s):  
Thomas I. Faith

This book documents the institutional history of the Chemical Warfare Service (CWS), the U.S. Army organization responsible for chemical warfare, from its origins in 1917 through Amos A. Fries's departure as CWS chief in 1929. It examines the U.S. chemical warfare program as it developed before the nation began sending soldiers to fight in France during World War I; the American Expeditionary Force's experiences with poison gas on the Western Front; the CWS's struggle to continue its chemical weapons program in a hostile political environment after the war; and CWS efforts to improve its public image as well as its reputation in the military in the first half of the 1920s. The book concludes with an assessment of the CWS's successes and failures in the second half of the 1920s. Through the story of the CWS, the book shows how the autonomy of the military-industrial complex can be limited when policymakers are confronted with pervasive, hostile public opinion.


2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 127-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mimi Sheller

Following aluminum as part of a material culture of speed and lightness, this article examines how assemblages of energy and metals connect built environments, ways of life, and ideologies of acceleration. Aluminum can be theorized as a circulatory matrix that forms an energy culture. Through a discussion of speed and social justice, the history of aluminium-based socioecologies reveals how the materiality of energy forms assemblages of objects, infrastructures, and practices. The article then traces the aluminum industry’s involvement in the production and distribution of energy itself both at the national scale of power grids and in the emergence of transnational transfers of energy, such as hydropowered smelters in Iceland. Finally, this analysis of deeply embedded energy cultures calls for a transnational approach to the accelerated socioecologies of aluminum production and consumption; and for energy transition theories to pay closer attention to the figured worlds and figuring work of the military-industrial complex.


Author(s):  
Ana-Maria CERNOV

Network security has become more important to personal computer users, organizations, and the military. With the advent of the internet, security became a major concern and the history of security allows a better understanding of the emergence of security technology. This paper presents the main issues regarding the network security issues and solutions to fight back the cyber-attacks.


Humanities ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Claire Chambers

In his novel about the Egyptian Revolution, The City Always Wins (2017), Omar Robert Hamilton shows that the alternative media possess mass engagement and global reach, while threatening power. However, over the course of his novel Hamilton traces the crushing of the ‘Twitter revolution’ and the rise of a disillusionment and despair among the revolutionaries. This downward trajectory is typified both in the appellative journey from Hamilton’s non-profit media collective Mosireen—‘those who insist’—to the novel’s similar group, portentously named Chaos; and in the text’s reverse-chronological structure of ‘Tomorrow’, ‘Today’, and ‘Yesterday’. The author uses Twitter as an archive of an alternative, resistant history of revolutionary struggle; he embeds Tweets in the fabric of this experimental novel; and social media posts interrupt and punctuate the narrative as in the real life of his millennial characters. In this article I explore the novel’s representations of (social) media and the impact these have both on everyday lives and modes of protest. Despite promising beginnings, the internet ultimately turns ‘toxic’ and is depicted as a Pandora’s box of dis- and misinformation, conspiracy theories, fake news, and the manipulations of state media lackeys. A more lasting alternative to media may be ‘creative insurgency’. As such, I conclude this article by discussing what art can achieve that (citizen) journalism cannot, and how this applies to the novel’s portrayals of art, particularly music.


Author(s):  
Paul C. Light

Chapter 1 provides a broad history of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1961 farewell address and the author’s methodology for estimating the true size of the government-industrial complex workforce. The chapter begins with Eisenhower’s decision to deliver a nationally televised speech warning the nation of the grave threats created by the conjunction of an imperative, but immense military and armaments industry. The chapter explores the history of the speech and the president’s chosen words for characterizing the military-industrial complex. The chapter continues with a discussion of the method used for estimating the true size of the federal, contract, and grant workforces. The method converts federal spending into estimates of the full-time-equivalent contract and grant employment for use in side-by-side comparisons to the federal workforce. The chapter ends with a discussion of the data deficit surrounding the government-industrial complex and warns readers that all data have expiration dates, including the data used in the book.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document