Uneven liberalisation in Southern Africa: convergence and democracy in communications policy

Barnett, Clive (author)

Technological convergence between telecommunications, broadcasting and computing has become a central object of communications policy initiatives worldwide. This paper explores the implications of the associated shift towards prioritising industrial and competition policy imperatives over those of cultural policy in the context of processes of democratisation in Southern Africa during the 1990s. It examines the institutional mechanisms by which national regulatory regimes have been adjusted according to the dictates of market liberalisation promoted by international agencies (including the WTO, IMF, and World Bank), and mediated by regionally-based agencies (such as the Southern African Development Community). The paper explores the emerging tension between two philosophies of regulatory independence: a market liberal approach which prioritises transparency and independence as a condition of attracting inward foreign investment, and which endeavours the shield communications regulation from democratic oversight; and a radical democratic approach, which privileges the role of communications in the cultivation of freedom of expression and the extension of political participation, in which regulatory bodies are seen as necessarily independent of direct government control but remain responsive to pressures from civil society. The contested politics of regulatory convergence in Southern Africa are illustrated by reference to recent changes in regulatory policy in South Africa, and the extent to which the South African experience is being generalised through structures of regional governance is critically examined.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Južna Afrika, komunikacija tehnologija, komunikacijska politika, telekomunikacije, radiodifuzija, povezovanje, regulacija, liberalizacija, demokratičnost, South Africa, telecommunication, broadcasting, liberalization, democraticism
• Work type: Not categorized
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Year: 1999
• Number of pages: Str. 101-114
• Numbering: Vol. 6, no. 3
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-75241
• UDC: 659.3/.4
• ISSN on article: 1318-3222
• COBISS.SI-ID: 19257693
• Publication date in RUL: 21.12.2015

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Javnost
• Shortened title: Javnost
• Publisher: Taylor&Francis
• ISSN: 1318-3222
• COBISS.SI-ID: 40119808

Secondary language

• Language: Unknown

Abstract

Tehnološko povezovanje med telekomunikacijami, radiodifuzijo in računalništvom je po vsem svetu postalo središčni predmet iniciativ v komunikacijski politiki. Članek obravnava implikacije poudarjanja industrijskih in konkurenčnih imperativov nasproti kulturnim v kontekstu demokratizacije Južne Afrike v devetdesetih letih. Proučuje institucionalne mehanizme, s katerimi so se nacionalni regulacijski režimi prilagodili diktatu tržnega liberalizma, ki ga promovirajo mednarodne agencije (WTO, IMF in Svetovna banka) in regionalne agencije (npr. Southern African Development Community). Članek obravnava napetosti med dvema filozofijama regulacijske neodvisnosti. Pristop tržnega liberalizma daje prednost preglednosti in neodvisnosti kot pogojema za pridobitev tujih investicij ter zavrača demokratični nadzor. Radikalno demokratični pristop pa daje prednost vlogi komuniciranja v kultivaciji svobode izražanja in razširjanju politične participacije, pri čemer morajo biti regulacijska telesa nujno neodvisna od neposrednega državnega nadzora, pač pa odgovorna civilni družbi. Tekmujoči politiki regulacijskega povezovanja v Južni Afriki sta ponazorjeni z nedavnimi spremembami v regulacijski politiki.