Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: How has Community Wireless Networking (CWN) contributed to a new kind of politicization of communication technology? How has grassroots experimentation with commercial WiFi technology expanded into a mobilization with social and political goals? This paper proposes an evaluative framework for CWN drawing from constructivist studies of science and technology that examine the articulations created between technology and policy. Drawing from empirical research conducted at meetings of CWN actors between 2004 and 2007, it describes the tensions created between oppositional perspectives of WiFi networks as disruptive networks and as ubiquitous networks. The paper concludes by examining the outcomes of these articulations as they influence policy and social mobilization.