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Preface
As you set out for Ithaca
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
(K. Kavafis 1911)
From the conception to its publication, this book has been a rich, enjoyable
and, at times, frustrating transnational journey where we both
learned a great deal, not only about our subject matter but also about
ourselves. The road was longer than we anticipated, but only because life
is unstoppable and all present: the book apart from the standard daily routines
of leading full academic lives, the winter flues included, witnessed a
research leave and multiple stays abroad, four house moves, the birth of
a baby girl (Aisha), two job moves and a wedding, and throughout these
life experiences our families and friends made the process more enjoyable.
Our journey to this ‘Ithaca’ has made us richer in knowledge and
friendship, collegiality and confidence.
This book explores the conditions and ideas behind global communications
policies; our writing travels back and forth, across continents and
socioeconomic realities to identify and analyze common policy concerns,
conflicting interests, and the place and voice of publics. Throughout
the writing process, we relied heavily on electronic communications to
update information, track down electronic archives and conduct basic
literature searches. We conceived and discussed the ideas in this book
first online and then by telephone and continued developing the book
in the same way, with only one brief off-line meeting. We have used six
different computers between us (two of which crashed) and have been dependent
on Internet access with speedy connections (broadband). These
tools were available to us as researchers based in academic institutions, in
our homes and hotels and Internet cafes located in the connected parts
of the world where we wrote this book – Amherst, Athens, Coventry,
Kolkata, London, Montreal, Pittsburgh and Salvador – enabling us to
communicate with colleagues across the world instantly. Access to technology
and skills are important material and cultural capital not fairly
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