Colonial Topographies of Internet Infrastructure: The Sedimented and Linked Networks of the Telegraph and Submarine Fiber Optic Internet. Issue 3 (3rd July 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Thorat, Dhanashree
• Is Part Of: South Asian review. Volume 40:Issue 3(2019)
• Page Start: 252
• Page End: 267
• Publication Date: 2019-07-03
• Subjects: Digital divide -- internet infrastructure -- British colonialism -- South Asia -- decolonization; Indic literature -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Literature -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; India -- Civilization -- Periodicals; South Asia -- Civilization -- Periodicals; South Asia -- Languages -- Periodicals; South Asian literature -- Periodicals; South Asian literature; Language and languages; Civilization; Indic literature; Literature; South Asia; India; Criticism, interpretation, etc; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 891.1
• DOI: 10.1080/02759527.2019.1599563
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0275-9527

Abstract

Abstract: The global digital divide, referencing inequalities in Internet access between countries in the Global North and the Global South, has been the topic of conversation for several years internationally. This article traces the colonial modes of control and exclusion which undergird digital infrastructures in India. I examine the contemporary submarine cable network, the material infrastructure of the Internet today, in light of an older paradigm in cable telecommunication: the telegraph system built in the 1800 s. Outlining the development of the telegraph as a technology of colonial control and its strategic deployment in places of military and commercial importance to the colonial administration in India, I argue that both these facets, the creation and deployment of the telegraph network, constitute a crucial historical context for the submarine cable network in the region today. I also frame new cable projects undertaken in the oceanic pathways between South Asia, East Africa, and the Middle East as decolonial infrastructural models envisioning alternate structures of ownership, governance, and regional co-operation. This article ultimately shows that attempts to improve digital infrastructures in India and other parts of the Global South must grapple with colonial technologies and communication networks that were not developed for the benefit of (formerly) colonized peoples.