The powers and pathologies of networks: Insights from the political cybernetics of Karl W. Deutsch and Norbert Wiener

Abstract

This article reconstructs Karl Deutsch’s fearful yet hopeful views about the powers and pathologies of military, and other, national and international network systems. These views presuppose Norbert Wiener’s Cybernetic Interpretive Hypothesis: that ‘society can only be understood through a study of the messages and communication facilities which belong to it’; that the societal trend is towards more computerized communication systems; and that they embody an ‘open vs. closed’ living systems ethos. Drawing on science and technology studies by Edwards and Mirowski, the author suggests how Deutsch’s and Wiener’s prophetic hopes, fears, and insights can also enrich and redefine contemporary debates about the historical-technological development of our national societies, the powers and pathologies of game-theoretically programmed computer networks, the assessment of the life-preserving potential of our partly automated security systems, the major threats from the continued poverty of the less developed world, problems of decentralized governance, and the political, ethical, and religious justifications for our national, international, and civilizational identities and purposes.