Between a World Summit and a Chinese Movie

Abstract

In this personal reflection from a non-direct participant, the author compares the visions of the ‘information society’ at the WSIS with fragments of imagined and lived experiences of such a society in China, which has emerged as an increasingly important player at the global stage. While the author praises the liberal and egalitarian visions articulated in both the state and civil society declarations, she is wary of a technology-driven notion of social progress in the official documents. She also notes how the highly abstract language of the Declaration of Principles glosses over the specific logics of a capitalist global political economy and conceals the complicated and unequal power relationships between the various ‘partners’ and ‘stakeholders’ in the global political economy – governments, private corporations, civil society organizations and international and regional institutions. Finally, the author discusses how the complicated alignment of various positions at the WSIS underscores the inadequacy of a simplistic dichotomy between state and civil society and between the North and the South, and raises questions about the theoretical and strategic challenges of addressing issues such as uneven global civil society participation at the WSIS process.