Comment - Revue des sciences sociales

Abstracts
supposes not only making an “inventory”
of post-modern conflicts, but also revisiting
the categories of thought usually
used in polemology.
PATRICK SCHMOLL
Changes in military organisation
in the era of digital war
This article attempts to predict the
transformations in organising the armed
forces and the conception of war itself
based on an observation of present and
future military applications, whose development
is currently guided by new technologies.
The stakeholders concerned
necessarily think that digitalisation will
increase the action potential of armies
by making the units more rapid and more
powerful. This is the instrumental reasoning
which only takes into account the
additional means that techniques give to
the in-field operator or the overall organisation
to reach their objectives. And yet
individuals and groups are themselves
transformed by the techniques that they
employ. This article explores the mediological
effects and in particular the concertinaing
of networked information and
communication systems with an organisation
whose structure is traditionally
hierarchical.
MICHAEL SCHNEGG & JULIA PAULI
Cyberguerilleros do not fight
alone. Networks and rallying in
the Zapatist uprising
Social unrest, uprisings and asymmetrical
wars recruit activitists through
social networks. This article examines the
virtual network which formed around the
Zapatist uprising in the Mexican state of
Chiapas. The main issue examined here
is the structure of the network and the
way in which it contributed to rallying the
people. The study shows that the Internet
site network examined (N=72) is cohesive
and connected up by direct links.
However, the participating virtual players
come from very different origins, institutional
positions and social backgrounds.
The combination of two characteristics –
cohesion and heterogeneity – sets up the
optimum conditions for rallying round
the public on a large scale.
173