Excavating Historicity in the U.S. Network Neutrality Debate: An Interpretive Perspective on Policy Change

Communication, Culture & Critique, Forthcoming

Posted: 4 Dec 2013

See all articles by Becky Lentz

Becky Lentz

McGill University; LBJ School of Public Affairs (UT Austin)

Date Written: November 15, 2013

Abstract

This article offers a framework for studying the historicity of the contemporary debate about network neutrality in the United States by drawing on the theory of intertextuality. Contrary to the popular notion that the idea of "neutrality" first appeared in 2002, the article traces the term back to the 1960s when the Federal Communications Commission took up the problem of convergence or "compunications" in the Computer Inquiry proceedings. The article closes with some reflections about how an intertextual perspective informs study of policy as a constitutive discursive practice.

Keywords: network neutrality, intertextuality, policy change, interpretive policy analysis, discourse theory, nodal point, empty signifier

JEL Classification: L96, L98, O3, K23

Suggested Citation

Lentz, Roberta G. (Becky) and Lentz, Roberta G. (Becky), Excavating Historicity in the U.S. Network Neutrality Debate: An Interpretive Perspective on Policy Change (November 15, 2013). Communication, Culture & Critique, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2362953

Roberta G. (Becky) Lentz (Contact Author)

LBJ School of Public Affairs (UT Austin) ( email )

United States

McGill University ( email )

United States

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