COUNTERHEGEMONIC DISCOURSES AND THE INTERNET

Contrary to much of the hype that posits cyberspace as the uncontested , domain of rugged individualists, computer networks and traffic exhib it deeply social and political roots. The Internet is neither inherent ly oppressive nor automatically emancipatory; it is a terrain of conte sted philosophies and politics. After a brief review of the politics o f electronic knowledge, we discuss the ways in which the Internet can be harnessed for counterhegemonic (antiestablishment) political ends. We focus on progressive uses, including the confrontation of nomadic p ower and rhizomic power structures, in which the local becomes the glo bal. We also offer an encapsulation of right-wing uses. Throughout, we see cyberactivism as a necessary, but not sufficient, complement to r eal-world struggles on behalf of the disempowered.