Papers by Blayne Haggart
Information, Technology and Control in a Changing World , 2019
While the control of knowledge is becoming the dominant means by which economic, political, and s... more While the control of knowledge is becoming the dominant means by which economic, political, and social control is exerted globally, the mechanisms through which this is happening—including intellectual property rights, state and commercial surveillance, digitisation and datafication, and a nearly ubiquitous internet mediating human interactions—are often examined separately instead of as part of a larger phenomenon of knowledge governance. This edited volume brings experts in these areas from across the social sciences to explore these areas as forms of knowledge governance, by adopting the understudied (at least from a knowledge-governance perspective) work of the late International Political Economy scholar Susan Strange, notably her concept of a knowledge structure. In this chapter, we present an introduction to and critique of Strange’s theory of the knowledge structure and offer an overview of this volume’s chapters.
This article investigates the difficulties in transplanting global legal norms into developing co... more This article investigates the difficulties in transplanting global legal norms into developing countries, specifically the problem of 'false friends.' This is a linguistics concept describing the situation where there is a striking resemblance between two words in two different languages, leading speakers of each language to assume, incorrectly, that they understand the word's meaning in the other language. Even more problematically, the misunderstanding is hidden by the assumption of understanding. We argue that similar problems can occur when there is a superficial similarity (but a fundamental mismatch) between particular global and local norms. We illustrate this through the example of global intellectual property regimes and their reception in Vanuatu and Mexico, showing how reforms are sometimes welcomed into developing countries on the basis of false assumptions that their aims are congruent with existing understandings. Finally, the paper develops some policy implications for avoiding the 'false friends' problem in a transnational legal context.
Communication Theory, 2014
New institutionalism is a collection of institutionalist theories, including historical instituti... more New institutionalism is a collection of institutionalist theories, including historical institutionalism, sociological institutionalism, and rational choice institutionalism. This article focuses on historical institutionalism in communication studies. First, we note that historical institutionalism-a dominant approach in political science-has appeared in relatively few studies of media and communications. Second, we describe the historical institutionalist approach. Third, we describe the historical institutionalist method in detail, breaking it down into 6 steps and demonstrating its usefulness, especially in the areas of communication history and communication policy and law. In the final section, we further develop our contention that the field of communications is a fruitful one for the development of historical institutionalism, and that historical institutionalism is a useful approach for communication scholars, especially in the areas of communication history, policy, and law.
Canadian Journal of Political Science, 2013
Though understudied in international political economy, copyright and intellectual property (IP) ... more Though understudied in international political economy, copyright and intellectual property (IP) have become increasingly central to the appropriation of value in global production chains; stronger IP is the bedrock of U.S. attempts to maintain global economic dominance. As digital technologies have brought individuals and telecommunications companies into direct contact with copyright laws, copyright has been politicized, capable of sparking massive worldwide protests. While traditional copyright interests continue to seek ever-stronger copyright laws and international treaties in the name of stronger “property rights,” they are increasingly being countered by those promoting “user rights.” One of the most dramatic of these protests, the January 2012 “Internet blackout” in protest of two copyright bills, occurred in the United States, ironically the foremost state proponent of stronger copyright.
Copyright’s politicization offers a useful lens through which to consider the wider issue of global norm diffusion. Its politicization threatens not only the direction of future copyright laws and treaties, but also the structure of the global political economy. This paper considers the implications of copyright’s politicization by focusing on the most recent IP treaty, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Using historical institutionalism and analyzing the effects of copyright politicization in three key TPP countries, Canada, Mexico and the United States, it argues that the United States’ strong-copyright position will become increasingly untenable, as copyright politicization becomes increasingly ubiquitous. However, regulatory capture of key copyright and trade institutions by the copyright industries means that the trend toward stronger copyright may not reverse immediately.
The February 2012 mass protests in Europe against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) ... more The February 2012 mass protests in Europe against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) demonstrated an international increase in the political contentiousness of copyright policy. ACTA, a U.S.-led treaty among several developed countries, and Morocco and Mexico, would further strengthen international intellectual property (IP) laws, potentially negatively affecting human rights and freedom of expression.
Possibly as consequential was the Mexican Senate’s June 2011 rejection of the treaty. This not only signaled copyright’s politicization in Mexico, but also reversed the Senate’s previous pro-stronger-copyright position. As a major developing country with strong U.S. ties – the main proponent for stronger copyright – the Mexican copyright debate reveals much about the possible future of developing-country engagement on IP issues. This paper examines the factors that contributed to this rejection. It focuses particularly on the mobilization of Mexican civil society on copyright – a new development in Mexican copyright policymaking.
This dissertation proposes an historical-institutionalist framework for understanding regional go... more This dissertation proposes an historical-institutionalist framework for understanding regional governance issues in general and North American governance in particular. Using digital-copyright reform as a test issue, it demonstrates that regional institutionalization can preserve differences and does not necessarily lead to regional policy convergence. This conclusion emerges from historical institutionalism’s focus on understanding the interaction of the policy-relevant ideas, institutions and interests shaping a region, no matter on what “level” they may be located. Regional governance processes must be understood within their own particular historical contexts. This approach allows the researcher to account for relevant influences that are either downplayed or ignored in other approaches to regionalism.
With respect to copyright, this dissertation finds that U.S. digital-copyright policy is shaped decisively by its own domestic ideas, institutions and interests, with international and regional factors playing a minimal role. For Canada and Mexico, while the United States has attempted to influence copyright reform in its neighbours, both countries’ copyright policies continue to be influenced significantly by domestic factors, and both countries continue to display significant copyright-policy autonomy. U.S. ability to influence its neighbours is constrained by the North American Free Trade Agreement’s (NAFTA) guarantee of market access, which limits the U.S. ability to link copyright reform to improved access to its market, suggesting that NAFTA’s rules play a role in maintaining policy autonomy and reducing the potential for policy convergence.
Conference Presentations by Blayne Haggart
Note: This paper is an uncorrected proof of “Copyfight: Global redistribution in the digital age,... more Note: This paper is an uncorrected proof of “Copyfight: Global redistribution in the digital age,” in New Rules for Global Justice: Structural Redistribution in the Global Economy, eds. Jan Aart Scholte, Lorenzo Fioramonti and Alfred G. Nhema, pp. 93-108, London: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.
Robert Cox argues that different periods give rise to different forms of state, reflecting mutual... more Robert Cox argues that different periods give rise to different forms of state, reflecting mutually beneficial interdependencies between the state and dominant parts of society, favouring certain forms of economic development over others. This paper applies Cox's analysis of historic blocs and state-society complexes to recent US developments related to the privileging of intellectual property-based firms, and the increasing dependence by states and online firms on ubiquitous surveillance. Following Cox's theoretical framework, it argues that the shared goal of total surveillance of all online activity by leading US Internet companies and the US government, and the related pursuit of wealth creation through the commodification of knowledge is leading to the emergence of a new form of state, the surveillance state. This marriage of a dominant surveillance-and knowledge-based business model by firms such as Google (now Alphabet) – currently the world's most valuable company – with the US state's perception that ubiquitous surveillance and stronger intellectual property rights are in its national interest has the potential to affect significantly the structure of the global political economy.
Books by Blayne Haggart
The New Knowledge, 2023
From the global geopolitical arena to the smart city, control over knowledge—particularly over da... more From the global geopolitical arena to the smart city, control over knowledge—particularly over data and intellectual property—has become a key battleground for the exercise of economic and political power. For companies and governments alike, control over knowledge—what scholar Susan Strange calls the knowledge structure—has become a goal unto itself.
The rising dominance of the knowledge structure is leading to a massive redistribution of power, including from individuals to companies and states. Strong intellectual property rights have concentrated economic benefits in a smaller number of hands, while the “internet of things” is reshaping basic notions of property, ownership, and control. In the scramble to create and control data and intellectual property, governments and companies alike are engaging in ever-more surveillance.
The New Knowledge is a guide to and analysis of these changes, and of the emerging phenomenon of the knowledge-driven society. It highlights how the pursuit of the control over knowledge has become its own ideology, with its own set of experts drawn from those with the ability to collect and manipulate digital data. Haggart and Tusikov propose a workable path forward—knowledge decommodification—to ensure that our new knowledge is not treated simply as a commodity to be bought and sold, but as a way to meet the needs of the individuals and communities that create this knowledge in the first place.
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Papers by Blayne Haggart
Copyright’s politicization offers a useful lens through which to consider the wider issue of global norm diffusion. Its politicization threatens not only the direction of future copyright laws and treaties, but also the structure of the global political economy. This paper considers the implications of copyright’s politicization by focusing on the most recent IP treaty, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Using historical institutionalism and analyzing the effects of copyright politicization in three key TPP countries, Canada, Mexico and the United States, it argues that the United States’ strong-copyright position will become increasingly untenable, as copyright politicization becomes increasingly ubiquitous. However, regulatory capture of key copyright and trade institutions by the copyright industries means that the trend toward stronger copyright may not reverse immediately.
Possibly as consequential was the Mexican Senate’s June 2011 rejection of the treaty. This not only signaled copyright’s politicization in Mexico, but also reversed the Senate’s previous pro-stronger-copyright position. As a major developing country with strong U.S. ties – the main proponent for stronger copyright – the Mexican copyright debate reveals much about the possible future of developing-country engagement on IP issues. This paper examines the factors that contributed to this rejection. It focuses particularly on the mobilization of Mexican civil society on copyright – a new development in Mexican copyright policymaking.
With respect to copyright, this dissertation finds that U.S. digital-copyright policy is shaped decisively by its own domestic ideas, institutions and interests, with international and regional factors playing a minimal role. For Canada and Mexico, while the United States has attempted to influence copyright reform in its neighbours, both countries’ copyright policies continue to be influenced significantly by domestic factors, and both countries continue to display significant copyright-policy autonomy. U.S. ability to influence its neighbours is constrained by the North American Free Trade Agreement’s (NAFTA) guarantee of market access, which limits the U.S. ability to link copyright reform to improved access to its market, suggesting that NAFTA’s rules play a role in maintaining policy autonomy and reducing the potential for policy convergence.
Conference Presentations by Blayne Haggart
Books by Blayne Haggart
The rising dominance of the knowledge structure is leading to a massive redistribution of power, including from individuals to companies and states. Strong intellectual property rights have concentrated economic benefits in a smaller number of hands, while the “internet of things” is reshaping basic notions of property, ownership, and control. In the scramble to create and control data and intellectual property, governments and companies alike are engaging in ever-more surveillance.
The New Knowledge is a guide to and analysis of these changes, and of the emerging phenomenon of the knowledge-driven society. It highlights how the pursuit of the control over knowledge has become its own ideology, with its own set of experts drawn from those with the ability to collect and manipulate digital data. Haggart and Tusikov propose a workable path forward—knowledge decommodification—to ensure that our new knowledge is not treated simply as a commodity to be bought and sold, but as a way to meet the needs of the individuals and communities that create this knowledge in the first place.
Copyright’s politicization offers a useful lens through which to consider the wider issue of global norm diffusion. Its politicization threatens not only the direction of future copyright laws and treaties, but also the structure of the global political economy. This paper considers the implications of copyright’s politicization by focusing on the most recent IP treaty, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Using historical institutionalism and analyzing the effects of copyright politicization in three key TPP countries, Canada, Mexico and the United States, it argues that the United States’ strong-copyright position will become increasingly untenable, as copyright politicization becomes increasingly ubiquitous. However, regulatory capture of key copyright and trade institutions by the copyright industries means that the trend toward stronger copyright may not reverse immediately.
Possibly as consequential was the Mexican Senate’s June 2011 rejection of the treaty. This not only signaled copyright’s politicization in Mexico, but also reversed the Senate’s previous pro-stronger-copyright position. As a major developing country with strong U.S. ties – the main proponent for stronger copyright – the Mexican copyright debate reveals much about the possible future of developing-country engagement on IP issues. This paper examines the factors that contributed to this rejection. It focuses particularly on the mobilization of Mexican civil society on copyright – a new development in Mexican copyright policymaking.
With respect to copyright, this dissertation finds that U.S. digital-copyright policy is shaped decisively by its own domestic ideas, institutions and interests, with international and regional factors playing a minimal role. For Canada and Mexico, while the United States has attempted to influence copyright reform in its neighbours, both countries’ copyright policies continue to be influenced significantly by domestic factors, and both countries continue to display significant copyright-policy autonomy. U.S. ability to influence its neighbours is constrained by the North American Free Trade Agreement’s (NAFTA) guarantee of market access, which limits the U.S. ability to link copyright reform to improved access to its market, suggesting that NAFTA’s rules play a role in maintaining policy autonomy and reducing the potential for policy convergence.
The rising dominance of the knowledge structure is leading to a massive redistribution of power, including from individuals to companies and states. Strong intellectual property rights have concentrated economic benefits in a smaller number of hands, while the “internet of things” is reshaping basic notions of property, ownership, and control. In the scramble to create and control data and intellectual property, governments and companies alike are engaging in ever-more surveillance.
The New Knowledge is a guide to and analysis of these changes, and of the emerging phenomenon of the knowledge-driven society. It highlights how the pursuit of the control over knowledge has become its own ideology, with its own set of experts drawn from those with the ability to collect and manipulate digital data. Haggart and Tusikov propose a workable path forward—knowledge decommodification—to ensure that our new knowledge is not treated simply as a commodity to be bought and sold, but as a way to meet the needs of the individuals and communities that create this knowledge in the first place.