Establishing Public-ness in the Network: New Moorings for Development—A Critique of the Concepts of Openness and Open Development

The termopennessis uniquely associated with the new communication paradigm made possible by the Internet. As the disruptive influence of Internet-based information and communication technologies (ICTs) is felt across social structures and institutions, the dominant techno-utopian vision of openness carries the promise of unbridled freedom. But does the concept ofopenness, or more specifically, related ideas likeopen societyandopen development, provide useful points of departure for thinking about social change and development in the information society? In this chapter we focus on some recent theorizations of openness in relation to development, especially the hypothesis thatopen social