From RangKoM and Jaring to the Internet

Visions and practices of electronic networking in Malaysia, 1983–1996

Datos Bibliográficos

ID13119045
AutoresHallam Stevens (0000-0002-9083-3131, Nanyang Technological University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2021
Volumen5
Número3-4
Páginas230-247
Fecha de publicación2021-05-26
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternet Histories (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2470-1475 • E-ISSN: 2470-1483
EditorialRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/24701475.2021.1920126
OpenAlexW3165584954
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas20

Early electronic networks were established for a variety of purposes, to serve different kinds of people and needs, and in vastly different political, social, and economic contexts. Examining some of the earliest electronic networks established in Southeast Asia provides us with a glimpse of the contrasting and diverse aims for which they were established and used. At the time electronic networking began to be developed in Malaysia (during the 1980s) its potential was far more open-ended. Although networking pioneers in Southeast Asia were influenced by North American experiences, they quickly developed their own ideas about what networks could be, could do, and how they could serve national or local purposes. This essay uses the concept of a “networking imaginary” to conceptualise the ways in which networks became associated with particular ideals, goals, and futures. The pioneers of electronic networking in Malaysia articulated a unique networking imaginary that anticipated networks playing a critical role in Malaysia’s developing economy. Networking, in the vision of its Malaysian founders, would play a key role in propelling Malaysia forward as a wealthy, stable, and harmonious society. These visions continue to impact the ways in which networks are imagined and used in Malaysia today

Business · Futures contract · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Sociology · Telecommunications · The Imaginary · The Internet · Variety (cybernetics · Vision · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Engineering · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics · Law · Psychology · Socioeconomic Development in Asia