Manufacturing Internet Policy Language : The Inner Workings of the Discourse Construction at the Internet Governance Forum

The formally non-binding status of the outcomes of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is one of the distinctive markers of this unique exercise in contemporary diplomacy. As a rimarily discursive exercise aimed at creating common ground for discussion of internet-related policy issues, the main outcome of the IGF is language. Assuming the way we describe the Internet as a policy issue matters to its design and regulation, the pivotal question becomes, “How is this language shaped and enacted?” To answer this question this study delves into the analysis of institutional settings and practices of the IGF. It builds on analysis of a two years long participatory observation, interviews with participants, and recorded materials from the IGF meetings, as well as, where available, the preparatory events. The study offers an analysis of the IGF fixtures, followed by analysis of the actors involved in shaping the IGF debate and its structures. It draws a picture of practices that enact and reify value systems of the UN and the Internet communities in a single policy discourse space