[Air-l] ATTN: Race, Place, and Information Technology

[Maximilian C. Forte]

Thanks Art,

There are a lot of very interesting points that you raised in your message.
I had really not thought in these terms before:

>The problem with the normal
> interrogation of this issue is that there is a failure to
> recognize that while the physical technology may have been
> developed elsewhere, the concepts which undergird it's use
> and operation are often indigenous.

What I had especially failed to consider are some of the cultural
implications of the operation of the technology itself, not a minor
oversight either. It also seems that once access has been established, any
apparent centre-periphery distinctions generally at work in the world system
seem to fade away, in that it is hard to establish the operation of a centre
and periphery within the world wide web itself in any kind of direct and cut
and dry sense. Indeed, large holes can be blown through the centre's
technological apparatus, and yet in Trinidad the Internet seemed to function
as normal (i.e., during 9-11, the recent blackout, and I recall an incident
involving some fire in a tunnel in New Jersey that derstroyed some
supposedly critical lines)...but then again, it's not like Internet service
in Trinidad was ever really fast and smooth for the average user.

Cheers,

Max.

Dr. Maximilian C. Forte
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Anthropology and Sociology
University College of Cape Breton
1250 Grand Lake Road
P.O. Box 5300
Sydney, NS B1P-6L2, Canada
E-mail: max_forte at uccb.ca
Faculty Web page: http://faculty.uccb.ns.ca/mforte/
Office B.273
Telephone: 902-563-1947