Slavka Antonova

Powerscape of Internet Governance: How Was Global Multistakeholderism Invented in Icann? Slavka Antonova

How to conceptualize and study ?shared power? in multistakeholder collaborations? What are the ?lessons learned? from the early-ICANN open deliberations with significance to the current Internet Governance debate? "Powerscape of Internet Governance" is an in-depth investigation of the power dynamics of global multistakeholderism in ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). The private corporation was created in 1998 to manage the address resources of the global Net. Its authority and policy decisions have been challenged ever since by governments and civil society champions. By applying Foucault?s concept of power, this critical exploration construes the experimental ICANN as a network of interdependencies, which generates transformative social impulses. The powerscape of the 'ICANN case' is sculpted by analyzing stakeholder practices, discourses, and strategies. "Powerscape of Internet Governance" fills a gap in the literature on global governance by presenting a case study, and will be of value to students and scholars in that field, and to stakeholders participating in global multistakeholder processes.