Citizenship and Participation in the Information Age

Published Under the Garamond Imprint

The new century promises to be a roller coaster ride fueled by rapidly changing information and communications technologies (ICTs). With the capacity for the almost instant transfer of digital information across and beyond our planet, commonly held notions of distance and speed, as well as our understanding of the nature and meaning of interpersonal contact are being challenged and redefined. Many believe that the very structural underpinnings of society will be transformed.

This book reflects each contributor's vision of the future, visions that range from the enthusiastic and hopeful to the pessimistic and fearful. The editors' purpose is to alert readers to what lies ahead in the new information society, and to help unravel the public policy implications of the changes wrought by information and communications technologies.

A major concern of this book is whether states are able to provide the necessary balance between the often competing priorities of global business and the interests of individuals and groups of citizens. For example, are traditional inter-state boundaries and borders becoming too eroded, espectially in the South, as a result of globalization? Whatever role governments are to play, it is inevitable that balance will only be achieved through active citizen participation, no longer limited by geographic constraints.