ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how political economists in the field of communication conceptualize power, in particular how power is produced and circulated in a digital economy. It shows networks connect humans and machines in the material world: whether human relationships are built through online or in personal communication, whether technologies enable humans to communicate through the Internet or in person. The chapter argues that one blind spot concerning these views of power is that they seem to agree that power can only reside with human beings and organizations. By taking into account the relationships between humans and non-humans in a network, the chapter also argues how political economists and critical scholars can problematize the notion of power in a more fruitful way. It also shows that Actor-Network Theory could provide political economists with a conceptualization of power that takes into account how power is created and distributed in networks of humans and non-humans.
