Sites of Criminality and Sites of Governance
| Author | Francis Snyder |
| Date | 01 June 2001 |
| Published date | 01 June 2001 |
| DOI | 10.1177/a017406 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
SITES OF CRIMINALITY AND
SITES OF GOVERNANCE
FRANCIS SNYDER
London School of Economics and Université d’Aix-Marseille III
INTRODUCTION
THIS IS a thought-provoking essay on a highly topical and contro-
versial subject: the rise of virtual criminality and how to control it. We
all have read of global computer viruses, and perhaps experienced
them; but probably few readers of this journal have direct personal experi-
ence of cybercrime. Among the many merits of Wanda Capeller’s stimulating
article is the identification of some main issues in the matter, pointers to fault
lines in current debates, and suggested avenues of research and policymaking
for the future. Here it is not possible to survey all of this rich tapestry.
Instead, my purpose is to offer some comments on a few selected themes.
THE MYTH OF NEUTRALITY
The ardent amateur of the cyberworld may be surprised to learn that,
according to the author, many people assume that cyberspace is neutral. But
what does ‘neutrality’ mean in this context? It surely cannot refer to a lack
of social organization. Internet networks may be the modern equivalent of
the early 20th-century anthropologist’s stateless societies. However, the
juxtaposition in itself indicates that networks are a type of social organiz-
ation, as economic organization theorists have often told us. They have a
structure, a distribution of power, norms, and often decision-making pro-
cedures.
Nor can ‘neutrality’ be assumed to mean an absence of values. Every tech-
nology, at least in my view, embodies certain assumptions about social
relations. Better, perhaps, it tends to favour or enhance certain types of social
relations and place others at a disadvantage. Technology, in other words, is
social. This means that it cannot be neutral, if by ‘neutral’ we mean standing
outside society, somehow ‘objective’ and outside social values.
SOCIAL &LEGAL STUDIES 0964 6639 (200106) 10:2 Copyright © 2001
SAGE Publications, London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi,
Vol. 10(2), 251–256; 017406
07 Snyder (bc/d) 30/4/01 10:31 am Page 251
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