"Circumvention tools designed to bypass online censorship such as simple web proxies, virtual private network service, and so on are frequently used in countries whose governments impose heavy Internet censorship. Around 18 million Internet users in China are currently using those tools to bypass th
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e Great Firewall and access unblocked online content. In a pioneering empirical investigation of unblocked information seeking in China's censored online environment, the present study systematically examines a wide range of macro-social and micro-individual factors which affect the use of circumvention tools to bypass Internet censorship under the guidance of the interactive communication technology adoption model. The results reveal that, with the exception of social trust, macro-social factors have only a modest influence on the use of circumvention tools. In contrast, micro-individual-level variables-including perceived technology fluidity, gratifications, and selected demographic variables-play a much larger role in our multivariate model. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed." (Abstract)
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"With essays on audiences in ancient Greece, early modern Germany, Soviet and post-Soviet Russia, Zimbabwe, contemporary Egypt, Bengali India, China, Taiwan, and immigrant diaspora in Belgium, each chapter examines the ways in which audiences are embedded in discourses of power, representation, and
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regulation in different yet overlapping ways according to specific socio-historical contexts." (Publisher description)
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