Constructing a Discourse About the Internet on the Internet: The Debate on ACTA and Copyright

• In Event: Investigating Mediated Authority: Theories and Methods

Abstract

Within a given public debate, contributions can constitute a “discourse” in different senses. Actors construct themselves and other in different ways, refer to different systems of knowledge and practices, and use different types of texts and different rhetoric or argumentative devices. Most importantly, contributions can imply various understandings of what type of discourse is to realized, and they can be analyzed at varying levels, implying different theoretical concepts on “discourses.” We apply this perspective (the discursive construction of a discourse’s structure and multiple theoretical descriptions as “discourse”) to the discussion on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), a debate on the regulation of the Internet that has largely been lead on the Internet. We find that participants of the debate differ in their constructions of themselves and others as actors and in their assumptions on the type of discourse that is going on or should be going on.

Authors

• Benjamin Kramer, LMU Munich

• Cornelia Wallner, LMU Munich