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<p>Following discourses on the increasing fragmentation and centralization of the Internet, this article suggests a&#xa0;spatial and figuration-theoretical perspective on digital infrastructures. The thesis is that the current changes in the Internet can best be described as an infrastructural reconfiguration of its network figure and as a&#xa0;change of the associated imaginaries, which in turn can be traced back to the tensions between different logics of spatialization. Based on a&#xa0;discussion of the role of the network as a&#xa0;leitmotif of recent social analyses and the development of a&#xa0;concept of infrastructure based on the sociology of knowledge, the paper analyzes two recent empirical developments: the proliferation of content delivery networks (CDNs) and Google’s implementation of the Internet protocol QUIC. The article concludes, that the current changes in the Internet infrastructure—its fragmentation and centralization—can be better described using concepts from the theory of refiguration, as they highlight overlapping tensions and conflicts at different layers of the stack.</p>

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Netzwerkfiguren: Rekonfigurationen des Internets als Refiguration von Räumen

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年3月1日

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  • Silke Steets,
  • René Tuma

摘要

Following discourses on the increasing fragmentation and centralization of the Internet, this article suggests a spatial and figuration-theoretical perspective on digital infrastructures. The thesis is that the current changes in the Internet can best be described as an infrastructural reconfiguration of its network figure and as a change of the associated imaginaries, which in turn can be traced back to the tensions between different logics of spatialization. Based on a discussion of the role of the network as a leitmotif of recent social analyses and the development of a concept of infrastructure based on the sociology of knowledge, the paper analyzes two recent empirical developments: the proliferation of content delivery networks (CDNs) and Google’s implementation of the Internet protocol QUIC. The article concludes, that the current changes in the Internet infrastructure—its fragmentation and centralization—can be better described using concepts from the theory of refiguration, as they highlight overlapping tensions and conflicts at different layers of the stack.