Computer-mediated communication and cyberculture are dramatically changing the nature of social relationships. Whether cyberspace will simply retain vestiges of traditional communities with hierarchical social links and class-structured relationships or create new egalitarian social networks remains an open question. The chapters in this volume examine the issue of social justice on the Internet by using a variety of methodological and theoretical perspectives.

Political scientists, sociologists, and communications and information systems scholars address issues of race, class, and gender on the Internet in chapters that do not assume any specialized training in computer technology.

This collection of essays addresses whether all nations will actively participate in building the information superhighway or whether the Internet will reflect global technological inequalities. The writings are grouped in four major sections, which examine theoretical issues on cyberglobalization, politics in the electronic global village, global economic issues in cyberspace, and national identities and grassroots movements in cyberspace. Contributing scholars represent a wide spectrum of disciplines from political science, economics, and communications to sociology, anthropology, and philosophy. A number of methodological and theoretical perspectives direct the writings. Collectively, the essays point toward an emerging technology that exhibits innate qualities characteristic of the classic notion of cultural imperialism.

This edited collection, with its timely approach to the implications of the Internet for global relations, will appeal to communication, sociology, and political science scholars. The interdisciplinary approach will also attract students and educators from such fields as anthropology, philosophy and economics. To aid in further research, select bibliographies follow each essay.