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Power Dynamics in Multi-stakeholder Policy Processes and Intra-civil Society Networking
Introduction1
In 2003 and 2005, the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a United Nations (UN) agency, and held, respectively, in Geneva and Tunis. The WSIS was set up by the UN General Assembly to address “the whole range of relevant issues related to the information society” (UN General Assembly 2001: 1). Given the breadth of the theme of the WSIS, it is surprising and, at the same time, highly relevant that it was the ITU that took the initiative with this Summit rather than, for example, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). While the ITU has its history in global telecommunication regulation, historically, UNESCO’s cultural agenda has engaged with media and communication matters. In this regard, the MacBride Report can be considered a genuine milestone in global debates on media, communication, and information issues and their societal impact (International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems 2004 [1980]). However, with the increasing convergence of broadcasting, computing, and telecommunication, the ITU is seeking a new role within the community of international organizations, and it was evident that the WSIS fit well with the ITU’s aim of reasserting itself on the global scene.
At a deeper level of analysis, Raboy (2003: 110) notes that ...
