"Herren der Information" - Die transnationale Autonomie digitaler Überwachung

Dieser Beitrag analysiert digitale Geheimdienstüberwachung als Phänomen transnationaler Ordnungsbildung. Diese geht im Sinne von Pierre Bourdieus Feldbegriff einher mit der Herausbildung einer relativen Autonomie und symbolischer Herrschaft, also der Durchsetzung legitimer Deutungen. Mit einer konzeptionellen Differenzierung doxischer (unbestrittener) und orthodoxer (umstrittener) Formen symbolischer Herrschaft lässt sich eine Antwort darauf formulieren, warum digitale Überwachung trotz, und teilweise durch ihre Kontestation so gut funktioniert, ohne dabei den Wandel von Überwachungsdebatten zu vernachlässigen. Illustriert wird dieser Wandel anhand der Unterscheidung zwischen inländischer und ausländischer Kommunikation im Feld Signals Intelligence (Sigint). Die Inland-Ausland Unterscheidung wird im post-Snowden Diskurs aufgebrochen, aber nicht aufgelöst. Sie wird von einer stillen Form symbolischer Herrschaft in eine streitbare transformiert, also von einer durch Schweigen akzeptieren Selbstverständlichkeit (Doxa) zur herrschenden Meinung (Orthodoxie), der ein heterodoxer Bürger- und Menschenrechtsdiskurs gegenübersteht. Die politische Soziologie transnationaler Geheimdienstüberwachung soll sowohl zum Verständnis von Überwachung als auch zu einer neuen Betrachtungsweise von Macht und Herrschaft in der digitalen Konstellation beitragen. Die vorgeschlagene Feldperspektive ermöglicht zudem das Nachdenken über die von Regierungen relativ unabhängige, regelsetzenden Macht von Geheimdiensten, ohne dabei auf die Idee eines 'deep state' zurückzugreifen.This paper analyses digital surveillance by intelligence agencies as a phenomenon of transnational ordering. Following Pierre Bourdieus concept of fields, this ordering includes the formation of a certain degree of autonomy and symbolic domination, that is the establishment of legitimate meanings in social worlds. With a conceptual differentiation between doxic (uncontested) and orthodox (contested) forms of symbolic domination, an answer can be formulated as to why digital surveillance works so well despite, and in part through its contestation, without neglecting the transformation of surveillance debates. This transformation is illustrated by the distinction between domestic and foreign communication in the field of signals intelligence (Sigint). The domestic-foreign distinction is contested in the post-Snowden discourse, but not dissolved. It is transformed from a silent form of symbolic domination into a contentious one, that means from a self-evidence accepted through silence (doxa) to a dominant opinion (orthodoxy), which is opposed by a heterodox discourse of civil and human rights. The political sociology of transnational intelligence surveillance is intended to contribute both to the understanding of surveillance and to a new way of looking at power and domination in the digital constellation. The proposed field perspective also enables reflection on the rule-making power of intelligence agencies that is relatively independent of governments, without resorting to the vocabulary of a 'deep state'

Media accountability online in Israel. - An application of Bourdieu`s field theory

Due to structural changes in journalism, such as deregulation, privatisation and the influence of new technologies, it has become increasingly important to study media accountability (MA). By applying Bourdieu’s theory of social fields, this paper proposes a new approach to do so: MA is defined as a function of both journalistic autonomy and influence in the media field. Here, online communication potentially widens the scope of action for media’s transparency, responsiveness as well as the articulation of media criticism by a variety of actors. In Israel, media criticism is driven by the agent’s struggle for interpretive authority over public discourse in a politically polarized society. Semi-structured interviews with Israeli journalists, media activists and experts suggest that journalistic agents who have yet to earn credibility and reputation exploit online communication to its full potential, while agents in the field of power tend to dismiss online criticism. The influence of the audience’s media criticism is not solely dependent on the technical ability of connecting and hearing the voices of the masses; it has to be in combination with symbolic or political capital. However, the demand for media’s social responsibility is also related to being more careful and less critical, which is very evident in Israel. Thus, it is important to critically reflect on what happens when media accountability practices become more efficient and a stronger sense for “being watched” develops

Analysing internet policy as a field of struggle

This essay proposes an analytical approach that conceptualises internet policy as a field of struggle which emerges through processes of discursive institutionalisation. By combining field theory and selected Science and Technology Studies (STS) concepts, the essay highlights the performative function of discourses in the field. It does so by showing how actors entered the policy field through the creation of expertise and regulatory competences and uncovers key conflicts that have shaped internet policy. Drawing on interviews and document analysis, the essay illustrates the proposed research approach via three selected examples which demonstrate how international discourses materialised in internet-related organisational structures and regulatory competences in German ministries

Auf den Spuren eines Politikfeldes: Die Institutionalisierung von Internetpolitik in der Ministerialverwaltung

Neue Politikfelder entstehen auch in alten Institutionen. Der Beitrag zeichnet am Beispiel der Internetpolitik in Deutschland die Institutionalisierung eines Politikfeldes nach. Auf der Grundlage einer Kombination von soziologischer Feldtheorie und diskursivem Institutionalismus und gestützt auf Organigramm-Historien, Interviews mit Ministerialbeamten und Behördenpublikationen nimmt er die Entstehung von internetpolitischen Abteilungen in zwei Ministerien in den Blick: dem Wirtschaftsministerium und dem Innenministerium. Der Aufbau von Abteilungen für Internetpolitik ist zugleich eine Form von Diskursinstitutionalisierung und eine Positionierung der Ministerien im Politikfeld, die sich um die Etablierung und Auslegung neuer gemeinwohlrelevanter Schutzgüter dreht. Neben der Wirtschaft und der nationalen Sicherheit tritt nun auch das Internet als Schutzgut hervor, das von den Ministerien im Kontext der bereits bestehenden Schutzgüter semantisch unterschiedlich, jedoch aufbauorganisatorisch ähnlich ausgelegt und als partiell autonomes Politikfeld institutionalisiert wird.New policy fields emerge within old institutions, too. The article shows how this happens by retracing the institutionalization of Internet policy in Germany. It analyzes organizational charts, administrative publications, and biographical interviews with ministerial staff in two ministries - the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of the Interior - through the lenses of field theory and discursive institutionalism. From this perspective, the formation of new organizational units is to be understood both as an institutionalization of discourse and as a result of ministries strategically positioning themselves in policy fields. At the center of this process is the question what qualifies as a common good that must be protected in the public interest and how. Besides the economy and national security, the Internet emerges as a good to be protected, which, though being interpreted differently by the respective ministries, is institutionalized in similar organizational structures. In both ministries, Internet policy has been institutionalized as a relatively, even though weakly autonomous policy field

From the “Five Eyes” to the “SIGINT Seniors Europe”: The intelligence community as a transnational field

This paper argues that the rule-making of the transnational intelligence field and internet rules are closely intertwined. It has two main goals. Firstly, on a methodological level, it proposes to combine information provided by the internal NSA documents with historical research, declassified documents and witness statements of intelligence personnel in order to analyse previously secret intelligence communities and their practices. By doing so, it wishes to stimulate a critical discussion of ethical and methodological rules for using leaked documents in academia. Secondly, it argues that Pierre Bourdieu’s field concept, and specifically its application on transnational fields by Didier Bigo, provides a useful heuristic to analyse the internet’s role in the transnational field of intelligence. The paper discusses two interrelated assumptions. Firstly, that the global infrastructure of the internet has set new rules for the intelligence agencies’ struggle over access to communication. Secondly, it argues that the autonomization of the intelligence field potentially affects the rules of the internet