Global Economy and International Telecommunication Networks

Wilson, Katherine

17/09/07

Prof. Ibahrine

INTL COMM

Outline Chapter 3:

Global Economy and International Telecommunications Networks

1. Pre-modern World
1. Foreign products were rare in the 13^th century- everything was produced locally.

i. Shoemaker- limited amount of shoes per day.

2. Division of Labor
1. Leads to factories- output increases exponentially.
2. Flip side= creates interdependencies, requires coordination.
3. Devil’s bargain- increase productivity via specialization (creates problems of coordination and control).

i. Henry Ford’s factory in Michigan, employed more than 10,000 workers

4. The global division of labor is intricately tied to modern communication technologies.
2. Imperialism
1. Multipolar world in the 13^th century

i. China, Egypt, India, Italy, Iraq dominated trading circuits.

ii. 14^th/15^th century changed: Spanish, Dutch, French, Portuguese and British

2. Developments in science lead to transitioning of power

i. Guns in Asia and Africa.

3. These new empires were different from the old ones in these ways:

i. They were far flung and disjointed.

ii. The economic relationship between the imperial powers and the subject territories changed.

iii. Gain access to raw materialsàfactoriesàcaptive markets

iv. Brute military power

1. Also more subtle techniques: co-opt the native elite into the colonial administrative apparatus.

4. Electronic Imperialism
1. Global Media Flows

i. Age of imperialism ended after WWII, with colonies winning independence.

ii. Center of world moved to the United States.

1. US had more powerful economic strength

iii. Some argue that global political structures created during age of imperialism still exist.

1. Create a relationship between the rich and the poor countries.

2. US dominates media market- movies, music, TV…

a. CULTURAL INVASION

b. one way flow

i. NWIO- goes against the 1^st Amendment of the Constitution

2. Transborder Data Flow

i. The movement of industries across the global in search of locational advantage is in many ways an extension of what happened din the US.

ii. Developing countries suspicious of free trade and free flow of communication.

1. position of permanent dependency

iii. Both imperialism and electronic imperialism exhibit a strong center-periphery relationship with few lateral connections, the center dominates the periphery….

1. DIFFERENCE= center uses employs more subtle means to dominate, not brute force.

5. Emerging Network Flows
1. Will decentralized technologies like the internet strengthen or loosen US control over world communications?

i. Internet seems a democratic medium.

1. structural inequities- rich countries have 97% all internet hosts

2. ISPs (internet service providers)

6. Toward a New World System?
1. Nature of the center-periphery relationship has changed significantly.

i. Global division of labor on unprecedented scale

ii. US projects its power over periphery in subtle ways

iii. Will center pass from US to other country, or will there be an emergence of a multipolar world like that of 13^th century?

Katherine Wilson
Prof. Ibahrine
10/09/07
Int’l Comm.

Chapter Two Outline:
Drawing a Bead on Global Communication Theories

Normative Theories
Four Categories
1. These comparisons help sharpen our understanding our our nation’s media system.
ii. Authoritarian
1. Dictatorial- Hiter, Mussolini
iii. Soviet
1. Communist dictatorships (Russia, Eastern Europe, Transcaucasia, Central Asia)
2. Difference between Authoritarian and Soviet lies in that Soviet regimes claim to show the way to construct a just and equal society.
iv. Liberal
1. Not “left wing”- but free market based.
2. Media systems ruled by capitalist moneymaking priorities.
v. Social Responsibility
1. Media operating within capitalist dynamic yet committed to serving public’s needs.
vi. Development Model
1. Media addressing issues of poverty, health care, literacy, education
a. Informing public about health hazards, agricultural methods
b. Important in fostering a sense of nationhood, mostly in previously colonized territories
vii. Participatory Model
1. Local, small scale, more democraticcaly organized media
2. Important factor is that STAFF and PRODUCERS have considerable input
3. Public participation and a democratic process central

A Different Approach I: Comparing And Contrasting Media
Soviet media, while extinct in its original form, has a lot to contribute to our understanding of other media.
i. Political Power
1. Seen as “mirror opposites” of media in the west
2. Communist Party’s Propaganda Committee- established ideological priorities
3. Bugging technology-advanced Soviet industry, lead to samizdat (dual-level public realm, no one believed official media truths)
ii. Economic Crisis
1. “its their government’s faults”- IMF
2. In 1990s, Russian life expectancy fell
3. Russian media, until the last few years of the old Soviet Union, reminded quiet about declining standards of living
iii. Dramatic Social Transitions
1. Media in Russia went through many transitions during the 20th century.
2. Until 1953, Russian media stayed in sync with dictators tread
3. After Stalin’s death, media opened up more..
a. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

A Different Approach II: Globalization and Media
Globalization- signifies:
i. Structural economic changes
ii. Cultural/media processes
a. Cultural imperialism: media imperialism
iii. “Americanization”
iv. Herbert Schiller (1991)
1. More multiple form of dominance by transnational corporations
a. Sony, Samsung, Telefonica, Globo
Hybridization
i. Bollywood!
A Different Approach III: Small-Scale Alternative Media
Samizdat
i. Hand circulated pamphlets, poems, essays, plays, short stories, novels that emerged in Soviet Russia from the 1960s onward.
1. Literally means “self published”, rather than “state-published”

*Interesting Article about "samizdat"

http://www.toutsurbudapest.net/article133.html

Chapter One Outline: Following the Historical Paths of Global Communication

WILSON, Katherine
03/09/2007
International Comm.
Prof. Ibahrine

Chapter One Outline:
Following the Historical Paths of Global Communication


Geographical Space: A Barrier to Communication
Communication is not a new concept- although today’s technology allows us to communicate regardless of distance.
i. The concept of communication was introduced in 1979 by historians who studied the Middle Ages.
Many uses of communication were used to advance warfare and trade.
i. Ex. Chinese papermaking-> Arab soldiers->German Bible
ii. Printing press and telegraph

Geography and the Mythical World
Every culture had different perceptions of the world outside their homes
Greek word “mantic”- ideas coming from the supernatural world
i. Greek myths such as Cyclops began to appear in maps
ii. Europeans believed India and Africa to be fanciful and frightening
iii. Prester John- fictitious Christian king, who ruled magical land…Pope Alexander II even wrote him a letter!
iv. Attila the Hun encouraged mythical beliefs (to scare his enemies)
Art, science, language, and ritual help us to see how mythical ideas
were represented among different cultures.

Ancient Encounters of Societies and Cultures
The 12th century brought ideas of more rational, tangible knowledge, thanks to Plato and Aristotle.
Explorers brought knowledge of what lies beyond:
i. Pytheas (Greek explorer) traveled to Spain and Baltic
ii. Alexander the Great- Asai Minor, Africa, Eastern Europe
Library in Alexandria (300 BC) held over ½ million papyrus rolls,
Largest library in antiquity

Global Explorers: Migrants, Holy People, Merchants
Migration as a way of life…
i. Nomadic lifestyle: changes in food supplies farming techniques, disease, war.
Trade ships
i. Al-Idrisi: “Amusement for Him Who Desires to Travel Round the World”
European Interest in the East
i. Geographia- (Claudius Ptolemy)…used a reference by mapmakers- helped Columbus in his search for trade route to India.
Famous Travelers
i. Jacob ibn Tarik: astronomical books, 820.
ii. Radanite Jewish merchants traveled to Kiev
iii. Ibn Khorrdadbeh (arab geographer), traced trade routes through Europe- described Russian-Scandinavians.
iv. Vikings settled tribes in Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland.

Mapmakers in the Medieval World
Maps were considered “keys to unlocking unknown worlds”
i. Columbus’ maps were locked up in Seville
Stirred empire building- however, much information on these maps were incorrect.
Served to aid sea navigation, pilgrimages, and military conquests.
i. However, other purposes:
1. Asian maps were drawn as art
2. Tibetan maps- spiritual path
3. Greeks- intellectual tools
Maps also served to divide the world by beliefs: Islam, Christianity, and Christian Byzantine Empire.
i. Only three continents- (badly drawn) Europe, Africa, Asia
The Crusades
i. Brought a new awareness of geography
1. Europeans became more familiar with languages and cultures
2. contributed a MAJOR chapter to INTL COMM
In Islam:
i. 1400 years of pilgrimages to Mecca
ii. Muslims were responsible for acquiring many ideas and devices: “the tongue of the Arab”
iii. First to recognize earth as sphere!

Inventors: Signals and Semaphores
The progression of technologies is most easily categorized into alphabetical and mathematical, or optical and audio media.
i. Signal systems for military use-
1. Artisotle informed the Persian king of goings-ons
2. Aeschylus described in book Agamemnon about conquest of Troy
3. Mostly for military purposes- Homer in the Illiad
ii. Visual signaling system:
1. Tiberius send messages from Capri on polished metal
2. Moors used a heliograph in Algeria
3. Herodotus (greek historian) described pony-express relay system, about 111 courier relay stations…Battle of Marathon.
iii. Postal Services
1. Charlemagne set up system through France, Italy, Germany and Spain
2. Lousi XI: set up mounted couriers for OFFICAL communiqués.
a. By the 1900s, delivery services offered quick service over great distances
3. Genghis Khan used pigeons, as did some Egyptian pharaohs.
4. Mesopotamian kings gave homing pigeons to carry on dangerous trips
5. In South America, Incas used smoke signals.
Noises (drums, shouting, trumpets) and physical sounds were also key for communication.
i. Giambattista della Porta described in 1553 a device which messages were shouted through tubes to project.
ii. The magnetic compass eventually lead to development of electric telegraph
iii. Joseph Chudy developed a system of flashing lights to be read by telescope in 1786.

The Printing Press, Literacy, and the Knowledge Explosion
Religious clerics were often the only literate people in the Middle Ages.
i. Epistles- used for diplomacy or commerce
Gutenberg’s printing press in Mainz, Germany 1450:
i. Many social consequences---
1. literacy among commoners
2. reformation inside the church
3. lead to rise in political consciousness and “public opinion”

Scientists and International Networks
a. Previously isolated countries now could intermingle interests and differences through new technology.
i. Telegraph
1. 1844, breakthrough in two-way communication- eventually lead to telephone and wireless radio
Views of international communication
i. At first, seen as only strategic and pragmatic….eventually organizations such as Central Commission for Navigation of the Rhine.
First Standardization of science codes in 1860:
i. Karlsruhe, Germany: assembled to clarify chemical symbols.
ii. This lead to other congresses to discuss all manners of science (botany, pharmacy, etc).
Adopting a global time system was important step in globalization.
i. Greenwich Observatory
ii. Universal adoption of metric system.

The International Electric Revolution
19th century launched industry and commerce:
i. steam boats- Savannahs
ii. telegraph became linked to the railway systems
American Telegraph Company
1. Samuel FB Morse: first line opened in 1866.
Alexander Graham Bell and the Telephone
i. Privately operated Bell Telephone Companyà Western Union Telegraph Company
ii. Thomas Edison

Summary: Global Immediacy and Transparency
Distanced communication directly affects human relationships.
Social and political systems can vary greatly in communication themes- through war, culture, espionage (?).
Global communication implies new connation to our (potential) histories.

**Yahra R. Kamalipour. (2007). Global Communication, (2nd Edition)