Agency, Cyberspace, and Social Contract

The social contract has been about rights and responsibilities in human societies. Facebook and its role in manufacturing and sustaining a global social contract, a new “we” is clearly one of the research areas that needs more attention. A new “we” is coming of age in the new age of connectivity and...

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Main Author: Hassan Hosseini
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Tehran 2019-01-01
Series:Cyberspace Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://jcss.ut.ac.ir/article_69246_e70c23f43c5d6d6413d8efd0958139d2.pdf
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author Hassan Hosseini
author_facet Hassan Hosseini
author_sort Hassan Hosseini
collection DOAJ
description The social contract has been about rights and responsibilities in human societies. Facebook and its role in manufacturing and sustaining a global social contract, a new “we” is clearly one of the research areas that needs more attention. A new “we” is coming of age in the new age of connectivity and communication with a new outlook toward responsibility and rights at individual and collective levels. Facebook purports to build a new world based on connection and communication which is based on progress and prosperity. However, a fundamental factor and feature of Facebook that needs attention and more research is that people and users are becoming increasingly lonely, separated and independent from each other in this process while connecting and communicating with one another. This new social contract and “we” thus have the new features of the relationship between the human agency and his/her social structures. Cyberspace is the product of human agency and clearly creates and sustains a specific social structure. This research seeks to study the relationship between human agency, changing technical tools of communication and connection and emerging and evolving social structures and social contracts. Bandura’s “social cognitive theory” (2006) rejects a conflict and dichotomy between agency and social structure. As agency helps to build new social structures after destroying the old ones these new structures create and sustain a new social contract and “we” with a new sense of responsibility, obligations, and rights.
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spelling doaj.art-16feb44e9c774a6ab3ec4e03309ee7442022-12-21T18:56:08ZengUniversity of TehranCyberspace Studies2588-54992588-55022019-01-01317910010.22059/jcss.2019.263881.102369246Agency, Cyberspace, and Social ContractHassan Hosseini0Assistant Professor, Faculty of World Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, IranThe social contract has been about rights and responsibilities in human societies. Facebook and its role in manufacturing and sustaining a global social contract, a new “we” is clearly one of the research areas that needs more attention. A new “we” is coming of age in the new age of connectivity and communication with a new outlook toward responsibility and rights at individual and collective levels. Facebook purports to build a new world based on connection and communication which is based on progress and prosperity. However, a fundamental factor and feature of Facebook that needs attention and more research is that people and users are becoming increasingly lonely, separated and independent from each other in this process while connecting and communicating with one another. This new social contract and “we” thus have the new features of the relationship between the human agency and his/her social structures. Cyberspace is the product of human agency and clearly creates and sustains a specific social structure. This research seeks to study the relationship between human agency, changing technical tools of communication and connection and emerging and evolving social structures and social contracts. Bandura’s “social cognitive theory” (2006) rejects a conflict and dichotomy between agency and social structure. As agency helps to build new social structures after destroying the old ones these new structures create and sustain a new social contract and “we” with a new sense of responsibility, obligations, and rights.https://jcss.ut.ac.ir/article_69246_e70c23f43c5d6d6413d8efd0958139d2.pdffacebookhuman agencyinterdependencesocial contractsocial structure
spellingShingle Hassan Hosseini
Agency, Cyberspace, and Social Contract
Cyberspace Studies
facebook
human agency
interdependence
social contract
social structure
title Agency, Cyberspace, and Social Contract
title_full Agency, Cyberspace, and Social Contract
title_fullStr Agency, Cyberspace, and Social Contract
title_full_unstemmed Agency, Cyberspace, and Social Contract
title_short Agency, Cyberspace, and Social Contract
title_sort agency cyberspace and social contract
topic facebook
human agency
interdependence
social contract
social structure
url https://jcss.ut.ac.ir/article_69246_e70c23f43c5d6d6413d8efd0958139d2.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT hassanhosseini agencycyberspaceandsocialcontract