[Air-L] Chinese (or other non-Western) objections to Internet Freedom...

[Charles Ess]

In hopes this does not confuse matter, but you also noted that you want

> students to critically analyse state policies and the underlying arguments
> that shape them.

>From my perspective, insofar as "Internet freedom" (positive freedom?
negative freedom? - both, I assume?) rests on specific assumptions / beliefs
/ hopes about the nature / characteristics of selfhood and identity (i.e.,
much of high modern Western notions of freedom rest on squarely individual
and strongly rational notions of selfhood) -
It is worth noting as well, I think, that there are strong trends towards
what might be called individualization in these otherwise strongly
collective societies and the relational selves they implicate.  See:

Yunxiang Yan. The Chinese path to individualization. The British Journal of
Sociology 61 (3: 2010): 489-512.
Mette Halskov Hansen and Rune Svarverud (eds.), The Rise of the Individual
in Modern Chinese Society, Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies,
2010.

As well, though I only have a conference presentation to document it -
others here may well have better resources - what I find especially
staggering is the introduction of _individual_ privacy rights in the
constitution of the P.R.C. in the past few years:

Suli Sui. The law and regulation on privacy in China. Paper presented at the
Rising Pan European and International Awareness of Biometrics and Security
Ethics (RISE) conference, October 20-21, 2011. Beijing, China.

Cf. Graham Greenleaf, Asia-Pacific data privacy: 2011, year of revolution?
UNSW Law Research Paper No. 2011-29, 2011.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1914212

There is even discussion among legal scholars in the P.R.C., I am told, of
introducing due process rights - i.e., the rights that have been largely
lost in the U.S. (and elsewhere) following 9/11, as the recent NSA
revelations underline.

Interesting world we live in.  In all events, best of luck with your course!

- charles ess

Professor in Media Studies
Department of Media and Communication

Director, Centre for Research on Media Innovations
<http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/research/center/media-innovations/>

University of Oslo 
P.O. Box 1093 Blindern
NO-0317 
Oslo Norway
email: c.m.ess at media.uio.no



On 03.08.13 12:49, "Madeline Carr" <madeline.carr at aber.ac.uk> wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> It seems we're all working to get our syllabi together for next semester
> and the hunt for quality sources begins. I'm writing a new module on
> Internet Freedom and I would like to provide the students with a balanced
> account of objections raised by some states like China. There is plenty
> available from a Western perspective that critiques Chinese approaches but
> I want something that challenges the students to consider alternative
> perspectives. This might include the argument about cultural imperialism,
> language preservation, social cohesion etc... Could anyone point me to a
> good article or chapter that looks at non-Western objections to Internet
> Freedom in a balanced way?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Madeline
> 
> Dr. Madeline Carr
> Lecturer in International Politics and the Cyber Dimension
> Department of International Politics
> Aberystwyth University
> Penglais, Aberystwyth
> SY23 3FE Wales
> +44 01970 621955
> mob: 0752 867 2088
> madelinemcarr at gmail.com
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