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Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2026

Wanshu Cong
Affiliation:
Australian National University
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Summary

The Introduction sets out the question and the scope of this book, and its theoretical and methodological framework. Drawing on historical materialism, it explains the anti-fetishist understanding of information taken by this book, which treats information as embedded in and constitutive of social relations and implicated in the distribution of power and order-making. Based on this historical materialist understanding of information, the Introduction sets out the book’s critique on the liberal treatment of information and its main argument that human rights and free trade have jointly and dialectically formed a hegemonic conceptual framework for the governance of information under international law which obscures the crucial material dimension of information and its connection to power.

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  • Introduction
  • Wanshu Cong, Australian National University
  • Book: Free Flow of Information
  • Online publication: 09 July 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009584920.001
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  • Introduction
  • Wanshu Cong, Australian National University
  • Book: Free Flow of Information
  • Online publication: 09 July 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009584920.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Wanshu Cong, Australian National University
  • Book: Free Flow of Information
  • Online publication: 09 July 2026
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009584920.001
Available formats
×