1.18. Sociological theory on post-modern / post-industrial and globalized society

E-participation can be understood as a dimension of a broader social and political transformation process of the participation in the networked and knowledge-based society, within a cultural and political context stressing efficiency priorities and market rationality and where the public sphere has been strongly affected by an intense process of market colonization. In this landscape the notion/function of democratic politics itself appears subjected to a great transformation, as some scholars has underlined (Crouch, 2005; Beck, 1992). In this perspective, one crucial issue deals with the possible roles played by ICTs? in the shaping of a new vision of politics and democracy in contemporary society.

The current social transformation of the form of citizens’ participation has its roots in the structural and cultural transformations underlined by sociological theory on post-modern/post-industrial and globalized society (Bauman, 2001a, 2001b; Beck, 1992, 1999; Castells, 1996; Giddens, 1984; Touraine, 1984). E-democracy and e-participation pertain to a specific political context linked to the paradigm of neo-liberal society (Barber, 2004).

In fact, in this theoretical line relevant elements on the social landscape of e-participation are for example: the individualized society emerging from neo-liberal globalization; the impact of globalization on the perceived legitimacy of the political institutions; the growing distrust for formal politics and the pervasion of the politics as a robust dimension of the individuals experience outside from the political institutions and discourse (e.g. in the field of the private life and consumption styles); the new organizations and claims emerging from the social movements wave at the beginning of the new century, experimenting more individualized mobilizations and a wide set of multifaceted identities/belongings.

The different ways social/political actors use ICTs? in their relationships can't be understood without reference to this changing context where divergent organizational opportunities are challenging the previous institutional settings and each others. For a rich overview on this approach underling the relationships among institutional and technological developments see Hargittai, Di Maggio, Neuman, Robinson (2001).







References:

Barber, B. (2004). Which technology and which democracy. In H. Jenkins & D. Thorburn, Democracy and New media. MIT Press.

Bauman, Z. (2001a). The Individualized Society. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Bauman, Z. (2001b). Community. Seeking Safety in an Insecure World. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Beck, U. (1992). Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. London: Sage.

Beck, U. (1999). What Is Globalization? Cambridge: Polity Press.

Castells, M. (1996). The Rise of the Network Society. Oxford: Blackwell.

Giddens, A. (1984). The Constitution of Society. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Hargittai, E., Di Maggio, P., Neuman, W.R. & Robinson, J.P.(2001). The social implications of the Internet. Annual Review of Sociology, 27, 307-336.

Touraine, A. (1984). Le retour de l'acteur. Paris: Fayard.

Next: Sociology of local society and changing forms of local governance in a globalized world Previous: Political systems as technologies