Metaphors for Democratic Communication Spaces: How Developers of Local Wireless Networks Frame Technology and Urban Space

Abstract

Communications policies, like many other social policies, are founded on an ideal of democracy that connects the development of communication infrastructures with democratic public spheres. This framing is a constructivist endeavour that takes place through language, institution, and infrastructure. Projects that aim to develop these capacities must grapple with the way such new media technologies are integrated into existing contexts or spaces, often using metaphors. This article analyzes how such metaphors are employed in the case of local wireless networking. Referring to empirical research on networks located in Montréal and Fredericton, Canada, the article critiques the narrow approach to democratization of communication spaces inherent in networks of this type. This narrow focus is associated with metaphors used to describe a co-evolution of wireless technology and urban space. The article identifies that the design processes that shape these networks could benefit from a more radical democratization associated with metaphors of recombination of space and technology.