Networks and Conditionality

Abstract

According to several social theorists, our contemporary world is marked by networks, so much so that both Jan van Dijk ([1991] 2006) and Castells (1996) coin ours a ‘network society’, or at least argue that we are on the path towards one. Electronic ICTs play a central element in both their accounts. Networked ICTs reveal the world as networks and induce a networked way of thinking about the world, and in turn, induce a networked way of acting on and governing that world. Accordingly, it is appropriate to ask what contribution e-government might have to the formation, operation and conceptualisation of networks.