| This paper explores the political potential of the Internet as a site of civil disobedience. As the Critical Art Ensemble (CAE) suggest the power of the State and Pan-Capitalism are becoming increasingly decentralised as tele-technologies expand. Consequently, power requires a nomadic electronic resistance. While traditional acts of civil disobedience, such as physically blockading a geographic space, are locally effective, new modes of resistance must be pursued to meet the challenge of decentralised and nomadic (flowing) power. Advanced communication technologies are allowing Capital to become increasingly global. Simultaneously, communication technologies are facilitating a new internationalism in resistance. In this paper, I case study the electronic sit-in site set up by the Internet activist collective, the Electrohippies, which corresponded to the physical protest in the streets of Seattle against the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1999. I discuss the philosophy of civil disobedience, the repressive role of neoliberalism and contend the necessity of creative modes of resistance in transnational social movements vis-à-vis advanced technologies. My theoretical focus is Marxist, and I am particularly informed by philosopher Arthur Kroker's conception of the virtual class. Methodological approaches include using web sites as archived primary sources. |
