Terranova Dicussion Questions

1. Terranova discusses how the internet and networks are not physically tangible. On page 40, she writes, "The debate has recently come to overlap with an earlier perspective that considered computer networks mainly as expressions of dematerialization and disembodiment." How does that make you feel when you PAY for internet software and music and invest in a world that really doesn't exist? How does this concept fit into the idea of Capitalism?

2. On page 40, Terranova writes, "The layered communication system modeled of the nation-state has witnessed the mutation with the rise of global, real-time communication networks." If change in communication means change in the way the world is segmented (such as the railroad's result in the nation), do you agree that the Internet is creating what Hardt and Negri call Empire?

*Thesis of Empire: In general, the book theorizes an ongoing transition from a "modern" phenomenon of imperialism, centered around individual nations, to a postmodern construct created by ruling powers which the authors call Empire (the capital letter is distinguishing), with different forms of warfare.