ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the political history of the Internet in America. Despite states' increasing dependence and interdependence upon the global network, the political history of how this technology was initially conceived, developed, governed and managed over time is not adequately understood. The chapter identifies two dominant paradigms within international relations for understanding the relationship between technology and power. These paradigms comprise self-consciously articulated theories of power coupled with unself-conscious but clearly evident approaches to technology. The chapter explains how the application of the third approach the social construction of technology that can be applied to the study of the political history of the Internet in the US to better understand the complex relationship between power and new technology. It explains how a social construction of technology (SCOT) methodology can be applied to the study of the relationship between power and technology in international relations.
