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InformalPoliticalKnowledge:DigitalFormationsofthe

PowerfulandthePowerless

SaskiaSassen ColumbiaUniversity www.saskiasassen.com

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Problematizingtheconceptof

knowledge Therapidproliferationofglobalcomputer-basednetworksandthegrowingdigitization

ofknowledge,whichallowsittocirculateinthoseglobalnetworks,unsettlethestandardmeaningsofknowledge

Thisinturnproblematizestheeffectivenessofcurrentframingsforunderstandingwhatisknowledge

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Makeslegiblelimitsof

knowledge Itmakeslegibletheparticularityoftheknowledgethroughwhichformalinstitutions

organizetheirknowledgeknowledgethathasbeendefinedaspertinenttotheiraims.

Inthisprocess,networktechnologieshavethepotentialtoopenupthecategoriesof

formalizedknowledgeandformalizedknowledgepractices

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Newtrajectoriesforexisting

knowledges Thesebodiesofknowledgecanexitorgobeyondhierarchicalinstitutionalizedcontrols.

Theycangetdisassembledandnavigatethedistributivepotentialofdigitalnetworks.

Andwhatwereonceunitarybodiesofknowledgeensconcedinspecificcategoriescannowgetredeployedinbitsandpiecesandacrossdiverseinstitutionalorders

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Informalizingknowledge:

Acriticalstep Criticaltothispotentialis: theinformalizingofsuchbodiesofknowledge

theirreassemblingintonovelmixeswhicharealsolikelytobeinformal,atleastinitially.

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Thesecondcriticalstep

Thesereassembledandinformalizedbodiesofknowledgecanfeedintonewandexistingconditionsforwhichtheywerenotdevelopedincludingpolitical,economic,technical,cultural,subjective.

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Canbepositiveornegative

Openingupestablishedcategoriesandinformalizingparticularcomponentsofformalknowledgecanbepositiveornegative:

itcanhelpthedemocratizingofspheresoncesubjecttohierarchicalcontrols

Oritcanfeedtheincreasinglyunregulatedpowerofglobalfinance.

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Specificityofsocio-digital

formations Abasicpropositionistheimportanceofcapturingthediversityandspecificityofsocio-digitalformations

Thisopensuptowholenewtypesofarticulationbetweenpoliticsandknowledge.

Differentkindsofsocio-digitalformationsmakelegibledifferentwaysinwhichthisarticulationbetweeninformalizedknowledgeandpoliticalenablementscanbeconstituted

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Singlingoutinformaltypesof

knowledge Allowsonetocapturewhatareoftenhighlydynamicbutnotparticularlylegiblemomentsinatrajectorythatmaywellwindupformalizingsomeoftheinformal.

Itallowsustocaptureafarbroaderrangeofinstancesthanifweconfinedthefocusto

formalizedknowledgeandpractices

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Focusoninformalknowledges:

opensuptheanalysis Ittakestheanalysiswellbeyondthemorefamiliarnotionsoftheinformalassomethingoutsidestateregulatoryframeworks.

(inmyresearchIalsofindemergentinformalitiesatthecenterofhighlyformalizedsystems).

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Focusisondigitalinteractive

domains Analytically,Idistinguishthetechnicalcapacitiesofdigitalnetworksfromthesocio-digitalecologieswithinwhichthosetechcapacitiesgetactivated.

Interveningmechanismsthatmayhavelittletodowiththetechnologypersecanreshapenetworkoutcomes.

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There-shapingbythesociallogicsofusersanddigitizedactorshasimplicationsforpoliticalpractices,includinggovernanceand

democraticparticipation.

(E.G.thetechcapacitytogeneratedistributedoutcomes--withtheirstrongconnotationsofdemocracyandparticipation--canbedistorted/eliminated.)

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DigitalFormationsofthe

PowerfulandthePowerless Thetechnicalpropertiesofelectronicinteractivedomainsdelivertheirutilitiesthroughcomplexecologiesthatincludenon-technologicalvariables,suchasthesocialandthesubjective,aswellastheparticularculturesofuseofdifferentactors.

Onesyntheticimagewecanuseisthattheseecologiesarepartlyshapedbytheparticularsociallogicsembeddedindiversedomains.

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Makingroomforinformal

knowledgepractices Whenwelookat(orconceptualize)electronicinteractivedomainsassuchmixedecologies,ratherthanasapurelytechnicalcondition,wemakeconceptualandempiricalroomforinformalknowledgeandknowledgepractices.

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Makingawholeviarecurrence

Multi-sitedknowledge Thetechnologycanaccommodatemultipleparticularsettingsorstruggles,andstill

encompassthemintoawholethrough

horizontaldynamics,suchasforinstance,recurrence,ratherthanverticalintegration.

Recurrenceofconditions/situationsconstitutesthatknowledgeasamulti-sitedwhole.

Suchpossibilitiesandsystemicdrivesunderminegeneralization.Bringtotheforethedifficultyof

formalizingtheseemergenttypesofknowledge.

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Velocity:adriverfor

informalizingknowledges Thegreatervelocitiesthatdigitizationmakespossiblefurtherdrivetheinformalizingofwholebodiesofknowledge,orsomeoftheir

components. Velocityalsomakeslegible,orhelpsusrealize,thefactthatagivenknowledgemightbeinatrajectorythatcangoindifferentdirections

Thisinturncangenerateemergenttypesofknowledgethatis,knowledgethatisasyetinformal,thoughitmayeventuallybecomeformalized.

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Twocases

Thetwocasesusedtodeveloptheargumentempiricallyareelectronicfinancialnetworksandelectronicactivistnetworks.

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Featuresofdigitalnetworks

Bothcasesarepartofglobaldynamicsandbothhavebeensignificantlyshapedbythethreepropertiesofdigitalnetworks:

decentralizedaccess/distributedoutcomes simultaneityandinterconnectivity.Butthesetechnicalpropertieshaveproducedstrikinglydifferentoutcomesineachcase.

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Differentoutcomes:

Globalcivilsociety Inonecase,thesepropertiescontributetodistributiveoutcomes:greaterparticipationoflocalorganizationsinglobalnetworks.

Therebytheyhelpconstitutetrans-boundarypublicspheresorformsofglobalitycenteredinmultiplelocalizedtypesofstrugglesand

agency.

Useofdistributivecapacitiesofthetechtoproduceaabroadmulti-sitedplatform.

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Highfinance

Inthesecondcase,thesesamepropertieshaveledtohigherlevelsofcontrolandconcentrationintheglobalcapitalmarket

eventhoughthepowerofthesefinancialelectronicnetworksrestsonakindofdistributedpower,thatis,millionsofinvestorsdistributedaroundtheworldandtheirmillionsofindividualdecisions.

Usesthedistributivepotentialoftechtomaximizescale-upandconcentration

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Threecomparisons

First,perhapsthemostsignificantfeatureinbothcasesisthepossibilityofexpanded

decentralizationandsimultaneousintegration.

Thatlocalpoliticalinitiativescanbecomepartofaglobalnetworkparallelsthearticulationofthe

capitalmarketwithanetworkoffinancialcentrs

Amongthetechnicalpropertiesthatproducethespecificutilityineachcaseisthepossibilityofbeingglobalwithoutlosingthearticulationwith

specificlocalconditionsandresources.

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Second,onceestablished,expandeddecentralizationandsimultaneousintegrationenabledbyglobaldigital

networks,producethresholdeffects. Fin:e.g.theordersofmagnitudethatcanbeachievedthroughdecentralizedsimultaneousaccessandinterconnectivity,andthroughthesoftwaringofincreasinglycomplexinstrumentswhichenablesfarmoretraderstousetheseinstruments.

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GCS

thresholdeffect:isthepossibilityofconstitutingtransboundarypublicsandimaginariesrather

thanbeingconfinedtocommunicationor

informationsearches.

Insofarasthenewnetworktechnologies

strengthenandcreatenewtypesofcross-border

activitiesamongnonstateactors,theyenabletheconstitutionofadistinctandonlypartlydigitalconditionvariouslyreferredtoasglobal

civilsociety,globalpublics,andcommons.

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Thirdcomparison

ThesignificantdifferencebetweenFinandGCSliesinthesubstantiverationalities,values,objectives,andconditioningstowhicheachtypeofactorissubject.

Onceweintroducetheseissues,wecanseeatendencyineachdomaintowardcumulative

causationleadingtoagrowingdifferentiationinoutcomes.

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Themixofdigitalandnon-

digitalvariables TheconstitutivecapabilitiesofthenewICTslieinacombinationofdigitalandnondigitalvariables.

Itisnotclearthatthetechnologyalonecouldhaveproducedtheoutcome.

Thenondigitalvariablesdiffersharplybetweenthesetwocases,evenasdigitizationiscrucialforconstitutingthespecificityofeachcase.

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Politicalformats

Onewayofthinkingaboutthisisintermsofpoliticalformats.

Manycivilsocietyorganizationshavebeensubjectedtoconstraintsthatforcethemintoaformatakintothatofincorporatedfirmswithconventionalaccountability

requirements. Thiskeepsthemfromusingthenewtechnologiesinmoreradicalways.

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Financeanditsnewformats

Iwouldarguethatfinancesucceedsinescapingconventionalformatswhentwoormorefinancialexchangesmergeandtherebyconstituteanetworkedplatform,allowingthemtomaximizetheutilitiesofnetworktechnologies.

Inthissense,Iwouldarguethatfinancehasbeenfaraheadofcivilsocietyintheuseofnetworked

technologies.Ithasactuallyinventednewformatstoaccommodateitsaims:multi-sitednetworkedplatforms,whereeachfinancialcentreisanodeinthenetwork.

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CivilSyOrganizationsand

theirformats

Civilsocietyorganizationshavehadmanyobstaclesputintheirwaytowardsthesetypesof

networkedarrangements.

Inmanywaystheyhavebeenforcedtotaketheformofincorporatedfirms,closedentities,

ratherthannetworkedplatforms.

Thereis,inmyanalysis,apoliticalissueherethatisyetanothervariablethatcontributestoproducediversesocio-digitalformationseven

whenbasedonsimilarnetworktechnologies.

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Sociallogicscanaltertech

capacities

Interactivedomainsareinherentlydistributivegiventheirtechnicalproperties.

Butoncewerecognizethatsociallogicsareatworkinsuchinteractivedomainsitisnotnecessarilythecasethatthosedistributiveoutcomeswillbepresenteverytime.

Inbothsituationsthough,informalknowledgeisascendantholdsforhighfinanceandforcivilsocietyorgs.Bothexitbureaucratizedandformalizedsystems.

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Theweightofsociallogics

Itisingoodpartthesociallogicsofusersandactorsthatcontributetotheoutcomes,and

hencetothedistortionoftechnicalproperties.

Thelogicsofusersmaynotcorrespondtotheengineersdesign.Theoutcomeoftheir

interactionisahybrid,anecologythatmixes

technicalpropertiesandsociallogics. Thefactofthisre-shapingbythesociallogicsofusersanddigitizedactorscarriesimplicationsfor

governanceanddemocraticparticipation.

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Theywillnotnecessarilyallowuserstoescapestateauthority,norwilltheynecessarilyensure

democraticoutcomes.

Theywillnotinevitablyglobalizeusersandeliminatetheirarticulationwithparticular

localities,buttheywillmakeglobalityaresource

forusersasdiverseasthetwoexaminedhere. Theoutcomesarenotunidirectionalandseamless.Theyaremixed,contradictory,and

lumpy.

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