Cyberpolitics and IPE: towards a research agenda in the Global South

MAXIMILIANO VILA SEOANE; MARCELO SAGUIER

Routledge Handbook of Global Political Economy 2019: For teaching, learning and research

Routledge

Año: 2020;

ABSTRACT: Digitalization is a fundamental vector of data capitalism. It has profound power implications for the public and private actors that are contesting the redefinition of the rules and practices of a global political economy intransition to a data capitalism. These changes are the focus ofcyberpolitics, a growing interdisciplinary field that is making contributionsto the IR/IPE literature. However, at least two elements are problematicof this literature. First, it has not fully explored the implications of thedigitalization process in the structuring a new global political economyassociated with the power of data generation, access and control. Second,research in cyberpolitics remains largely concentrated in the small groupof countries that are leading or disputing the hegemony of datatechnology and practices. Contributions from research in the Global South have been minimal. To fill this gap this chapter looks at the implicationsof the digitalization process in four strategic areas: cybersecurity;governance of digital trade and global finance; human rights andcitizenship on the Internet; the environment and the environment-sustainable development nexus.