IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/poango/v11y2023i3p157-167.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assembling Publics: Microsoft, Cybersecurity, and Public‐Private Relations

Author

Listed:
  • Tobias Liebetrau

    (Centre for Military Studies, University of Copenhagen, Denmark)

  • Linda Monsees

    (Center for Governance of Emerging Technologies, Institute of International Relations Prague, Czech Republic)

Abstract

In this article, we advance the literature on publics in international politics by exploring the nexus between publicness and big tech companies. This nexus finds a significant expression in the increasing impact of big tech companies to mediate disputes over societal problems, deliver social goods and rearticulate public-private relationships. We develop an analytical framework by combining recent scholarship on assemblage theory and publics, allowing us to understand publicness as enacted in practices which revolve around issues and rearticulate relations of authority and legitimacy. To demonstrate the value of the framework, we show how Microsoft is involved in assembling publicness around cybersecurity. Microsoft does so by problematising and countering state-led cybersecurity activities, questioning the state as a protector of its citizens and proposing governance measures to establish the tech sector as authoritative, and legitimate “first responders.” With this rearticulating of public-private relations, we see the emergence of a political subject for whom security is not solely the right of a citizen secured by the state but also a customer service provided as per a service agreement. The study hence offers important insights into the connection between publicness and cybersecurity, state and big tech relations, and the formation of authority and legitimacy in international politics.

Suggested Citation

  • Tobias Liebetrau & Linda Monsees, 2023. "Assembling Publics: Microsoft, Cybersecurity, and Public‐Private Relations," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(3), pages 157-167.
  • Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v11:y:2023:i:3:p:157-167
    DOI: 10.17645/pag.v11i3.6771
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/6771
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/pag.v11i3.6771?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guillaume Beaumier & Kevin Kalomeni & Malcolm Campbell‐Verduyn & Marc Lenglet & Serena Natile & Marielle Papin & Daivi Rodima‐Taylor & Arthur Silve & Falin Zhang, 2020. "Global Regulations for a Digital Economy: Between New and Old Challenges," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 11(4), pages 515-522, September.
    2. Louise Marie Hurel & Luisa Cruz Lobato, 2018. "Unpacking cyber norms: private companies as norm entrepreneurs," Journal of Cyber Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 61-76, January.
    3. Viera Magalhães, João & Couldry, Nick, 2021. "Giving by taking away: big tech, data colonialism and the reconfiguration of social good," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 107516, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Hurel Silva Dias, Louise & Lobato, Luisa Cruz, 2018. "Unpacking cyber norms: private companies as norm entrepreneurs," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115525, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Ruggie, John Gerard, 2004. "Reconstituting the Global Public Domain: Issues, Actors and Practices," Working Paper Series rwp04-031, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    6. Nancy Ayer Fairbank, 2019. "The state of Microsoft?: the role of corporations in international norm creation," Journal of Cyber Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(3), pages 380-403, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Benjamin Herborth, 2023. "Subaltern Counterpublics in Global Politics," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(3), pages 98-108.
    2. Janne Mende & Thomas Müller, 2023. "Publics in Global Politics: A Framing Paper," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(3), pages 91-97.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tobias Liebetrau & Linda Monsees, 2023. "Assembling Publics: Microsoft, Cybersecurity, and Public‐Private Relations," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(3), pages 157-167.
    2. Levinson, Nanette S., 2021. "Idea entrepreneurs: The United Nations Open-Ended Working Group & cybersecurity," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(6).
    3. Kerstin Awiszus & Yannick Bell & Jan Luttringhaus & Gregor Svindland & Alexander Vo{ss} & Stefan Weber, 2022. "Building Resilience in Cybersecurity -- An Artificial Lab Approach," Papers 2211.04762, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2023.
    4. Eero Palmujoki, 2009. "Global principles for sustainable biofuel production and trade," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 135-151, May.
    5. Ecker-Ehrhardt, Matthias, 2013. "Why do they want the UN to decide? A two-step model of public support for UN authority," TranState Working Papers 171, University of Bremen, Collaborative Research Center 597: Transformations of the State.
    6. Andreas Follesdal, 2011. "The distributive justice of a global basic structure: A category mistake?," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 10(1), pages 46-65, February.
    7. Philipp Pattberg & Johannes Stripple, 2008. "Beyond the public and private divide: remapping transnational climate governance in the 21st century," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 8(4), pages 367-388, December.
    8. Nina Seppala, 2009. "Business and the International Human Rights Regime: A Comparison of UN Initiatives," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(2), pages 401-417, August.
    9. Mikkel Kruuse & Kasper Reming Tangbæk & Kristjan Jespersen & Caleb Gallemore, 2019. "Navigating Input and Output Legitimacy in Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives: Institutional Stewards at Work," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-27, November.
    10. Kenneth Abbott & Duncan Snidal, 2010. "International regulation without international government: Improving IO performance through orchestration," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 315-344, September.
    11. van der Ven, Hamish & Sun, Yixian & Cashore, Benjamin, 2021. "Sustainable commodity governance and the global south," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    12. Harriet Bulkeley & Andy Jordan, 2012. "Guest Editorial," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 30(4), pages 556-570, August.
    13. Rajat M. Nag, 2012. "Transforming Asia: Realizing the Asian Century through Good Governance," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 1(1), pages 1-9, January.
    14. van der Ven Hamish, 2014. "Socializing the C-suite: why some big-box retailers are “greener” than others," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 16(1), pages 31-63, April.
    15. Janne Mende & Thomas Müller, 2023. "Publics in Global Politics: A Framing Paper," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(3), pages 91-97.
    16. Mende, Janne, 2020. "Business authority in global governance: Beyond public and private," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Global Governance SP IV 2020-103, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    17. Thomas Laudal, 2010. "An Attempt to Determine the CSR Potential of the International Clothing Business," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 96(1), pages 63-77, September.
    18. Barkemeyer, Ralf & Preuss, Lutz & Lee, Lindsay, 2015. "On the effectiveness of private transnational governance regimes—Evaluating corporate sustainability reporting according to the Global Reporting Initiative," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 312-325.
    19. Karin Buhmann, 2016. "Public Regulators and CSR: The ‘Social Licence to Operate’ in Recent United Nations Instruments on Business and Human Rights and the Juridification of CSR," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(4), pages 699-714, July.
    20. Swann Bommier & Cécile Renouard, 2014. "On Equity in India's Water Supply Public-Private Partnerships," Working Papers hal-01023795, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v11:y:2023:i:3:p:157-167. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.