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Negotiating Internet Governance
Roxana Radu
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N E G OT I AT I N G I N T E R N E T G OV E R N A N C E
ii
Negotiating Internet
Governance
ROX A N A R A D U
1
iv
1
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To my mom, with infinite love.
vi
Foreword
The global governance of the Internet is an ongoing, complex, contested, and

unfinished project. In its early days, Internet governance could be charac-
terized as a classic example of private authority in global governance, but as
this book masterfully demonstrates, as the Internet’s commercial and political
salience increased over time, its governance evolved into a composite arrange-
ment of public and private actors interacting in different multi-stakeholder
initiatives. The governance of the Internet is more analogous to the global
governance of the environment than it is to the governance of global trade.
It is a regime complex with different governance and institutional arrange-
ments in different issue domains and with no clear hierarchy among them.
While the domain has become increasingly securitized in recent years, the
emerging and highly imperfect governance of cybersecurity is only one aspect
of contemporary Internet governance. In a regime complex like Internet gov-
ernance, the nascent governance in one issue domain such as cybersecurity
will invariably have implications for the governance of other important issue
domains, such as freedom of expression and liberty, privacy and surveillance,
fair access, and the global digital divide.
In this important new book, Roxana Radu situates the global governance
of the Internet historically and traces its origins from the seemingly ad hoc
assignment of domain names by private actors in the 1980s through its com-
mercialization in the 1990s to the ongoing series of global multi-stakeholder
governance arrangements over the past two decades. As a participant in many
key, formative meetings, she not only describes the historical development of
governance arrangements, but also contributes to current policy debates on
Internet regulation and digital developments. She identifies watershed mo-
ments defining power dynamics in Internet governance, proposes an original
framework of analysis for mechanisms of governance at work across time in
Internet policy, and offers a detailed analysis of the praxis of governance and
how it evolves over time in light of the interaction between various instru-
ments, actors, and logics at work. In that sense, the book translates global
governance theory ideas and operationalizes core concepts, offering the first
comprehensive study of Internet governance mechanisms at the global level.
The book shows how steering mechanisms come into being through
various channels and individuals operating within a transnational policy net-
work, and it also reveals shifts in governance patterns over a relatively long
vi
viii Foreword
period of time (more than forty years). It also adds a new dimension to the
investigation of governance articulation by examining anchoring practices in
Internet governance. As such, it provides an important building block for a
broader research agenda dedicated to the emergence of governance in new
issue domains, refining our understanding of the genesis and structuration
processes involved.
The current governance of the Internet is far from ideal from many dif-
ferent vantage points, but that does not mean that it is ungoverned or ungov-
ernable. It simply means that the normative quality of the existing governance
arrangements is deficient in some important respects, whether we are con-
cerned with inclusivity, transparency, effectiveness, efficiency, adaptability,
or fundamental fairness. This book makes a significant contribution to the
ongoing debate about how the Internet should be governed. We need to
understand the history of Internet governance, its evolution, its constant ex-
perimentation, and its past failures in order to participate in an informed way
in the project of improving the quality of Internet governance today. With its
historical overview, its comprehensive treatment of the subject, and its ana-
lytical framework for understanding the mechanisms of governance at work,
this book provides a critical first step in this important project.
Thomas Biersteker
The Graduate Institute, Geneva
Acknowledgements
Negotiating Internet Governance follows directly from my doctoral disserta-

tion. I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Professor
Thomas J. Biersteker, for his invaluable guidance throughout the PhD pro-
cess and for his unchanged enthusiasm for my project since 2011. Precious
contributions to this work also came from Professors Liliana Andonova and
Nanette Levinson, whose comments helped me revise and update the con-
tent. Dr Nicole Stemlau at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies in Oxford wel-
comed the book project and offered crucial space and support to finalize it: an
improved version of the book is available today as a result!
To my colleagues and friends at DiploFoundation and the Geneva Internet
Platform: thank you for setting an excellent example of collaboration and for
the steep learning curve I went through while working together. I am intel-
lectually indebted to all the Internet governance experts I interacted with in
the past seven years, during the many meetings attended, as well as during my
research stays at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin and the Institute
for Technology and Society in Rio de Janeiro.
This project would not have been possible without the financial support
of the Swiss National Science Foundation, which I gratefully acknowledge.
My family’s support and encouragement was essential in completing this
book, at a distance and in Geneva. Eugenia, Paola, and Piero were there when
I needed it the most. I am extremely thankful for having been surrounded, at
all times, by amazing friends, who made this journey as exciting as it could
possibly be: Alex, Aura, Ezgi, Ioana P., Ioana T., Merih, and Rishabh.
Special thanks go to my partner, Alberto, always patient, loving, and
inspiring.
x
Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations xv
1. Introduction 1
Navigating Global Governance 4
Internet Governance under the Magnifying Glass 5
Global Governance—The Enactment Thesis 7
Research Focus, Central Question, and Argument 9
Method 11
Structure of the Book 12
2. Deconstructing Internet Governance: A Framework for Analysis 15

Global Governance Repertoires and the Internet 16
Varieties of Governance 18
State and Private Authority 21
Praxis 24
Deconstructive Lens 25
Evolution of Concerns over Time 26
Infrastructure and Critical Internet Resources 27
Cybersecurity 28
Legal Issues 28
Digital Economy 29
Information and Communication Technology for Development
(ICT4D) 29
Civil Liberties 30
An Analytical Framework for Internet Governance 31
Mechanisms of Governance 32
Actors 34
Anchoring Practices 35
Research Design and Methods 37
Historical Analysis 37
Empirical Analysis 38
Dataset and Coding 39
Textual Analysis 40
Participant Observation 41
Synopsis 42
xi
xii Table of Contents

3. Revisiting the Origins: The Internet and its Early Governance 43
Setting the Stage: Pre-Internet Developments 44
ARPA, Internetworking, and the Military Agenda 46
ARPANET, its Alternatives and Successors 48
Private Initiative and Competing Protocols 52
TCP/IP and the Birth of the Internet 55
From ARPANET to NSFNET 58
Research Funding: Basis for the Emergence of Multidisciplinary
Cooperation 60
Domestic Regulation: New Rules for Computing Services 61
International Governance 63
Actors 66
Anchoring Practice: RFCs 70
Synopsis 73
4. Privatization and Globalization of the Internet 75

A Global Internet (Fairy) Tale: Market Emergence 76
Infrastructure 76
Domain Name Registrations 79
Web Applications, Information Intermediaries, and E-commerce 81
Regulatory Framework 83
New Rules under Construction 85
The Creation of ICANN 90
ICANN Negotiations: Political Stakes 94
Actors 103
Anchoring Practice: Multi-stakeholder Participation 108
Synopsis 111
5. The WSIS Decade and the Public–Private Partnership Thirst 113

Internet Governance @ WSIS 114
In Search of a Definition 116
The WGIG Process 121
The WSIS Ordering 124
Role of the United Nations 127
WCIT-12 130
Post-Snowden Fault Lines 135
Actors 147
Anchoring Practices: Ad Hoc Expert Groups 152
Synopsis 156
Table of Contents xiii
6. Enacting Internet Governance: Power and Communities
over Time 157
Power Dynamics and Authority Locus 158
A Longitudinal Comparison 159
Private Giants on the Rise 161
Stronger National Approaches 166
China and India 171
The IG Community 173
Communities in the IANA Stewardship Transition 175
Various Meanings of Community 178
Old-timers and Newcomers 181
Internal Dynamics 183
Anchoring Practices 187
Synopsis 190
7. Conclusion: Reflections on a Global Issue Domain 191

Findings 192
Understanding New IG Trends 196
Theoretical Implications 200
Future Research Directions 203
Bibliography 205
Index 225
xvi
List of Abbreviations
ACM Association for Computing Machinery

ACTA Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
AI artificial intelligence
ARPA US Advanced Research Projects Agency
ARPANET Advanced Research Projects Agency Network
ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations
BAT Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba
BBN Bolt, Beranek, and Newman
BRICS Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa
BSBN Beijing-Shanghai Backbone Network
CBMs confidence building measures
CCBI Coordinating Committee of Business Interlocutors
CCITT International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative
Committee
cc-TLDs country-code top-level domains
CCWG-Accountability Cross-Community Working Group on Enhancing
ICANN Accountability
CDA Communications Decency Act
CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research
CERTs Computer Emergency Response Teams
CIRP UN Committee for Internet-related Policies
CJEU Court of Justice of the European Union
CNRI Corporation for National Research Initiatives
CoE Council of Europe
CORE Council of Registrars
CREN Corporation for Research and Educational Networking
CSIRTs Computer Security Incident Response Teams
CSNET Computer Science Network
CSTD UN Commission on Science and Technology for
Development
DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
xvi
xvi List of Abbreviations

DCA Defense Communications Agency
DNS domain name system
DNSO Domain Name Supporting Organisation
DoC Department of Commerce
DoD Department of Defense
DOT Force Digital Opportunities Task Force
ECHR European Court of Human Rights
ECOSOC UN Economic and Social Council
EU European Union
FCC Federal Communications Commission
FNC Federal Networking Council
G8 Group of 8
GAC Governmental Advisory Committee
GDDI Global Digital Divide Initiative
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GDPR General Data Protection Regulation
GFCE Global Forum on Cyber Expertise
GIC Global Internet Council
GIP Global Internet Project
GNSO Generic Names Supporting Organisation
gTLDs generic top-level domains
gTLDs-MoU Generic Top-Level Domain Memorandum of
Understanding
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol
IAB Internet Activities Board
IAHC International Ad Hoc Committee
IANA Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
ICANN Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
ICCB Internet Configuration Control Board
ICG IANA Stewardship Transition Cooperation Group
ICPC International Cable Protection Committee
ICTs information and communication technologies
ICT4D ICT for development
IEG Informal Experts Group
IENs Internet Experiment Notes
List of Abbreviations xvii
IETF Internet Engineering Task Force
IFWP International Forum for the White Paper
IG Internet governance
IGF Internet Governance Forum
ILO International Labour Organization
IMPs Interface Message Processors
InterNIC Internet Network Information Center
INWG International Packet Network Working Group
IOs international organizations
IoT Internet of Things
IP Internet Protocol
IPTO Information Processing Techniques Office
IR international relations
ISF Internet Social Forum
ISO International Organization for Standardization
ISOC Internet Society
ISPs Internet Service Providers
ITAA Information Technology Association of America
ITAG IANA Transition Advisory Group
ITRs International Telecommunication Regulations
ITU International Telecommunication Union
IUF Internet Ungovernance Forum
LAWS lethal autonomous weapon systems
LRO Legal Rights Objections
MAG Multistakeholder Advisory Group
MDG Millennium Development Goal
MILNET military network
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NCP Network Control Protocol
NCSG Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group
NEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s Development
NIC Network Information Center
NIPRNET Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network
NPL National Physical Laboratory
xvi
xviii List of Abbreviations

NRO Number Resource Organization
NSA US National Security Agency
NSF US National Science Foundation
NSFNET National Science Foundation Network
NSI Network Solutions, Inc.
NTIA National Telecommunication and Information
Administration
NWICO New World Information and Communication Order
NWG Network Working Group
OAS Organization of American States
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development
OSCE Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
OSI Open Systems Interconnection
PC personal computer
PIPA Protect IP Act
PrepCom Preparatory Committee
PTT post, telephone, and telegraph organizations
RFC Request for Comments
RIRs Regional Internet Registries
SCO Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
SDG Sustainable Development Goal
SIPRNET Secret [formerly Secure] Internet Protocol Router
Network
SOPA Stop Online Piracy Act
STS science and technology studies
TCP Transmission Control Protocol
TLDs top level domains
UAE United Arab Emirates
UDRP Universal Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy
UN United Nations
UNCTAD UN Conference on Trade and Development
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNESCO UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNGA UN General Assembly
UNGIS UN Group on the Information Society
List of Abbreviations xix
UNICTTF UN ICT Task Force
W3C World Wide Web Consortium
WB World Bank
WCIT-12 World Conference on International
Telecommunications 2012
WEF World Economic Forum
WGEC Working Group on Enhanced Cooperation
WGIG Working Group on Internet Governance
WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization
WITSA World Information and Telecommunication Association
WSF World Social Forum
WSIS World Summit on Information Society
WSIS + 10 decennial review of the World Summit on Information
Society
WTO World Trade Organization
WWW World Wide Web
x
1
Introduction
On the Internet, everything we love and everything we hate has a name. It

also has a number or a string of 0s and 1s making it technically viable. And,
more often than not, it comes with a price tag, whether visible or disguised
as data value. Since the 1980s, the infrastructure for our digital traces and
digital legacies has continued to grow, scientifically and politically. In a few
decades, it evolved from the purview of one government to the globalizing
world to become the most influential means of communication, the biggest
global market, but also the largest mass-surveillance tool ever devised. Digital
flows are estimated to add about 15 to 20 per cent of the global GDP annu-
ally (WIPO 2015) and data-driven businesses have made Internet companies
the most profitable in the world. Indisputably, the Internet is now a global
domain of power.
Hundreds of governance instruments are at work to regulate the digital
aspects of our lives, from connectivity to online behaviour on social networks.
Our well-being, our relationships, our health, and our labour are all affected
by the billions of Internet-connected tools around the world. Recent dis-
cussions around algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI), the ‘Internet of
Things’, and smart cities refocus attention on device-to-device communica-
tion, as in the early days of networking. Some of the current debates are rem-
iniscent of the struggles to find a legal and ethical framework for technical
advancements in the early 1990s. Understanding the answers given then and
the continuous contestation will help us better respond to the dilemmas we
are confronted with today.
The governance of the Internet transcends the conventional boundaries
among state, market, and user interests. Alongside formalized efforts that can
be easily categorized, ‘complicated, little understood and often improvised
processes of governance’ (Schmitter 2010, 85–6) characterize the field. How
these two types of processes emerge, develop, and coexist in Internet gov-
ernance (IG) is the focus of this book. In this exploration, the Internet is
analysed as a nascent policy domain around which political commitments,
business models, user preferences, and moral predispositions amalgamate.
Negotiating Internet Governance. Roxana Radu © Roxana Radu 2019. Published 2019 by Oxford
University Press.
2
2 Introduction
Drawing on international relations (IR) and Internet governance scholarship,
I explore how rule-making is achieved for a field in constant evolution. To
dissect the complex arrangements of global policies, norms, and standards
in the making, power dynamics are analysed along three axes: mechanisms,
actors, and practices of governance. Each one of these presents tacit or explicit
power differentials and tensions that structure ongoing negotiations. In this
study, they are put in perspective through a periodization exercise, which runs
from the early days of networking experiments in the 1970s to 2018.
Today, most Internet users are located in China (772 million) and India
(481 million). Combined, the two countries have almost 40 per cent of
the world’s youth online and lead the smartphone market (Nilekani 2018).
Although nearly half of the globe’s population is now online, important vari-
ations in the patterns of access and use persist: the large majority of people
in the world’s forty-six poorest nations remains unconnected and only 5 per
cent of the world’s estimated 7,100 languages are currently represented on
the Internet (Broadband Commission for Digital Development 2018; 2015).
To become the global backbone for political, legal, commercial, and social
life, the network underwent transformations in scope, size, and scale, setting
into motion the greatest technical collaboration in modern history and trans-
forming into an authoritative policy space ever more crowded.
Currently, one in three Internet users is under eighteen (Livingstone et al.
2015), experiencing the broad societal changes triggered by the widespread
use of the Internet: new patterns of communication (instant delivery, (micro)
blogging, citizen journalism, automatic translation tools, etc.), tele-work,
autonomous driving, social networking, sharing culture (Benkler 2006),
or crowdsourcing. Novel art forms, business models (largely based on big
data analytics and behavioural targeting), e-participation, digital currencies,
and smart wearables reconfigure the relationship we have with technology.
Independent of our age, the everyday Internet use is concentrated around the
visible components of the World Wide Web: social media, email, file trans-
fers, peer-to-peer sharing, dating apps, or online transactions. In these inter-
actions, the functioning of the Internet remains invisible; ‘for hundreds of
millions of users around the world, the Internet is indeed governed without
governors’ (Sylvan 2014, 36).
But this is no longer the case for policymakers, as the salience of IG grew
exponentially. Network controls, cybersecurity and privacy concerns, the in-
creased power of private intermediaries, and an emerging cyber-diplomacy
agenda have raised the profile of this field to a scale comparable to environ-
mental politics or global health. A ‘political construct in progress’ (Brousseau
and Marzouki 2013, 371), the Internet was understood as a mechanism for the
projection of power, both hard and soft (Carr 2015), but also as a technology
of disruption (Demchak 2003; Milan 2013; Dencik and Leistert 2015).
Because of its dual use, the Internet presents, on the one hand, opportunities
for strengthening governance mechanisms using digitization, non-stop com-
munication, ease of access to information, online delivery, as well as through
the potential nurturing of communities of practice. On the other hand, it can
undermine or interfere with efforts by different actors to govern, via the use of
extensive surveillance, real-time information leaking, fraudulent and criminal
activities, or cyber-attacks. This tension—juxtaposing personal freedoms and
empowerment, societal well-being, and destabilizing practices—remains at
the core of the various visions put forward for governing the network.
But as more and more of the Internet technical specifications come under
the spotlight with global debates on universal access, net neutrality, or en-
cryption, the societal changes they bring about are also called into question.
Developed and developing countries alike are confronted with processes of
Internet-induced adjustment and complexity management. As discussed
throughout this book, a number of governance arrangements emerged spon-
taneously, out of informal interactions, but consolidated into institutional
mandates, practices, and shared expectations, showing hybridity at work
across modi operandi and across time. Moreover, rapid technological advances
and specific sets of local issues have permeated the global sphere, continu-
ously transforming the meaning of IG.
The global governance literature, with its diverse research traditions, pro-
vides a useful starting point for unpacking the complexity of global Internet
arrangements. Parallel to analyses of new policy dilemmas (Fyfe and Crookall
2010) and ‘super wicked’ issues (Levin et al. 2009), complex governance
systems are understood in IR as embedded in and entangled with societal
values and power positions that they reinforce, mediate, or contest. While
this has not translated directly into a research agenda on the governance of
new technologies, it has inspired a number of IG studies to pursue a hol-
istic understanding. Alongside the focus on formal attributes of institutions,1
more emphasis has been placed in recent years on studying informality in IG
processes, with an increasing degree of empirical and theoretical sophistica-
tion (Flyverbom 2011; Epstein 2013; Chenou 2014).
Adding to the transformations in governance, the digital age restructured
global governance and the problematique of power in a two-fold manner.
Not only has it created new loci of power outside the purview of a powerful
hegemon, but it has created and perpetuated a transnational policy network
1
Ziewitz and Pentzold (2014, 311) note that IG research is ‘closely tied to policy discourses and
has developed a corresponding focus on the role of more or less institutionalised stakeholders at the
national or transnational level’.
4
4 Introduction
(Biersteker 2014) comprising experts from different fields, countries, and
backgrounds acting both formally and informally. The relations among inter-
national organizations, their constituencies, and other stakeholders have
altered as the Internet fostered the development of horizontal networks
(Castells 1996, 469), which have supplemented, rather than replaced, the
existing hierarchies.
Navigating Global Governance

The reality of governance existed avant la lettre. More than two decades after
its popularization in IR studies, the ‘global governance’ concept remains ra-
ther permissive and broad. It was mainstreamed in the early 1990s with the
establishment of the United Nations Commission on Global Governance and
the strong academic impetus to move away from the narrow analysis of the
interstate system to broader interactions between governance actors, spaces,
and mechanisms (Rosenau and Czempiel 1992; Osborne and Gaebler 1992).
For policymakers, it was closely linked to the ‘good governance’ priorities
spearheaded by the World Bank (Weiss 2000; Gisselquist 2012). ‘Internet
governance’ is among the newest topics added to the international agenda, for
which global governance scholarship provides the most extensive, but also the
most diverse, set of perspectives. I take this as the starting point for the ana-
lysis of emerging issue areas for which an institutional architecture is not en-
tirely solidified, but rather continuously negotiated and contested. Normative
dimensions at the core of contemporary governance—responsibility, legit-
imacy, and accountability—extend to IG naturally, making the reflection on
the mechanisms at work more enticing.
Historically, new technologies played an essential role in shifting govern-
ance debates from the domestic to the international level. With the laying of
the first transatlantic connection of copper cables for telegraphic signals in
1858, cross-border communication and collaboration became a permanent
feature of international relations (Thiemeyer 2013). By the mid-twentieth
century, the Frankfurt School placed a central emphasis on the use of tech-
nology for the subjugation of the masses by the modern state and opened
the door for critical theories that account for the transformation driven
by information and communication technologies (ICTs). In the words of
Kranzberg (1986, 545), technology is ‘neither good nor bad; nor is it neu-
tral . . . technology’s interaction with the social ecology is such that technical
developments frequently have environmental, social, and human conse-
quences that go far beyond the immediate purposes of the technical devices
and practices themselves’. Debates in science and technology studies (STS)2
neatly parallel predicaments in IG, as technological determinism and social
constructivism tenets surface regularly in the discourses of politicians, busi-
ness leaders, civil society, or technical community representatives.
In this study, global governance is understood as ‘a set of authoritative rules
aimed at defining, constraining, and shaping actor expectations in a pur-
posive order, generally implemented through a set of mechanisms recognized
as legitimate by relevant actors’ (Biersteker 2010).3 This goal is accomplished
through a plethora of laws and regulations, but also through institutional dia-
logue, transnational policy networks, social practices, and informal ways of
bargaining and negotiation. When applied to the Internet, the global govern-
ance framework presents us with a ‘bricolage’ picture: this emerging issue do-
main is currently run through a combination of frameworks of coordination,
rhetoric and modelling, constraints and inducements, as well as routine inter-
actions (Sylvan 2014). Authoritative decision-making for this domain may
come as part of intergovernmental processes, yet not exclusively: it is often
implemented through technical standards and protocols, business practices,
legal precedents, and everyday routines.
Since the 1920s radio connection revolution, the spaces, objects, and
subjects of international governance have mutated continuously. As a sub-
stantial preoccupation, the Internet became an object of governance around
1983, when the Internet protocol suite—the Transmission Control Protocol
(TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP)—started to be implemented widely.
Concerned with the changes in state-based institutions, global governance
scholars have—at the time of the Internet boom—paid little attention to the
way in which the Internet gets to be governed and generates an institutional
architecture as a global domain. Yet the constitution of a system of rules for
the Internet is not only relevant for how the field evolves, but also for under-
standing the global ordering that emerges with it.
Internet Governance under the Magnifying Glass

As an emerging field of study (deNardis et al. 2013), IG can be easily cir-
cumscribed to the fragmented global governance architecture, understood to
be ‘an overarching system of public and private institutions that are valid or
2
STS designates a branch of information science investigating the relationship between scientific
knowledge, technological systems, and society, and its social, political, and cultural implications.
Sismondo (2010) offers an expansive introduction to the field.
3
The emphasis on authority and legitimacy is also strong in Cutler et al. (1999) and in Gupta
and Pahl-Wostl (2013), who assess that ‘only a small part of the governance spectrum’ can make
regulatory decisions (p. 54).
6
6 Introduction
active in a given issue area of world politics, comprising organisations, re-
gimes, and other forms of principles, norms, regulations and decision-making
procedures’ (Biermann et al. 2009, 15). But this delineation remains incom-
plete without an in-depth look at the specificities of this new domain in inter-
national affairs, built around the core tension of power-sharing arrangements.
So far, IR theories have dealt primarily with power contests in physical spaces
and have not yet provided satisfactory answers to the challenges posed by vir-
tual spaces (Choucri 2012, 5).
The Internet encompasses both narrow and broad questions of govern-
ance (Solum 2009). The former refers to the management of technical aspects
and basic infrastructure, whereas the latter covers public policy and ethics.
Understood broadly, ‘Internet governance would be more or less equivalent
to “law and politics” at least in the “wired” and “wireless” (or more developed)
nations’ (Solum 2009, 49). For a long time, a strong emphasis was placed on
studying the institutions governing the Internet standards and protocols, as
well as the domain name system, with their specific organizational processes
and functioning. Yet framing Internet governance as ‘technical only’ obliviates
related socio-political implications and minimizes the latent political stakes.
Adopting a broad understanding of the Internet is thus a prerequisite for
studying its evolution. Throughout this book, I refer exclusively to the vis-
ible part of the Internet, which most users know, access, and use daily. The
non-indexed section of the Internet, also referred to as the ‘deepweb’—a term
coined by computer scientist Mike Bergman in 2000—or ‘darkweb’, remains
relatively obscure to the majority of users, although it is assumed to be several
times bigger than the searchable web.4 This hidden side of the World Wide
Web is not covered by regular search engines, and access to it generally re-
quires the use of circumvention and anonymity technology. The darkweb is a
space of self-regulation, where state control is rather limited.
Encapsulating different approaches, ‘Internet governance’, just like the
governance concept before, became a catchword that denotes a plethora of
actions ranging from legal provisions to routine practices. While most IG
scholars recognize the complexity and heterogeneity of the field, the ma-
jority focus on specific processes such as co-regulation, standard-setting, or
cybersecurity governance (Marsden 2011; DeNardis 2014). In the IR litera-
ture, there has been an overwhelming focus on the myriad manifestations of
4
The non-indexed web includes: dynamic web pages, blocked sites, unlinked sites, private sites
(with access via login credentials), non-HTML/-contextual/-scripted content, and limited-access
networks. The latter generally use sites with domain names that are not managed by the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and may employ non-standard top-level
domains requiring specific Domain Name System (DNS) servers to resolve adequately.
Global Governance—The Enactment Thesis 7
new forms of governance. This had been pursued at the expense of calling
into question the emergence of governance and grounding its articulation
historically. This trend has not only overshadowed explanations of continuity
and change in key processes, but also questions of agency, as pointed out
by Biersteker (2014), Bulkeley et al. (2014), Nolke and Graz (2008), or
Whitman (2005). A similar tendency could be observed among the scholars
of Internet governance; very few have engaged with longitudinal studies that
reveal dynamic interactions. The Bourdieu-inspired ‘turn to practice’ outlined
the significant role of routines and thus helped open up the universe of silent
power dynamics. Praxeological approaches recast the agency debate in empir-
ical terms, rather than conceptual only.
To navigate this space theoretically, the following chapters revisit key
underexplored concepts such as governance emergence and articulation, dis-
cussed as fundamental phases in the constitution of a new domain of power,
which appears as decentralized, in flux, and cross-sectoral. Being a field under
construction, the Internet poses two main challenges to the researcher: the
conceptual understanding of how governance comes into being and becomes
articulated, and the observation of governance patterns and power dynamics
as they present themselves in practice. IG is thus constituted as a field of
action that has specific praxis, structuring the positional and dispositional
logics of its actors.5 Theorized this way, it offers clues for understanding the
ambiguities and tensions driving its evolution.
Global Governance—The Enactment Thesis

Governance does not exist in abstracto. With the partial exception of norma-
tive inquiries, discussions about governance cannot elude the relational and
the practical side of it, that is actions and outcomes. In that sense, govern-
ance is not simply happening in the background; it is enacted. When people
act, events and structures that would not have existed otherwise are set in
motion. Enactment reconfirms a direction of action or breaks away from an
established perspective. Interactions are thus key: it is through them that both
meanings and actions are formed. At the global level, such interactions struc-
ture the space and the activities in which actors engage.
Governance theories encompass relational and societal facets of power. At
the macro-level, there is often an implicit reference to ‘power over’ (control,
5
Bourdieu (2000) asserts that one’s position does not cause action necessarily, but occupying a
position over time tends to leave some dispositional traces that help make sense of certain practices.
8
8 Introduction
dominance) à la Nye (2011), whereas in micro-interactions the ‘power-to’ as-
pect is brought forward, enabling individual autonomy and freedom. Outside
the nation-state structure, power is modelled through ideas, values, and ex-
pertise that shape the context, conditions, and nature of social interactions
and actions. These create systems of rule in which formal and informal gov-
ernance can be exercised. Barnett and Finnemore (2005, 179) present power
not only as the ability to regulate behaviour, but also to constitute the world
in particular ways and to define the problems to be solved. The ‘power to’
and ‘power with’ (Slaughter 2011) approach—dominant in constructivist
studies—highlights sources of authority such as knowledge, stamina, or
intellect. The Internet is a field of power that cuts across these analytical
distinctions: the creation of authoritative technical standards and protocols
is one such example of simultaneous ‘power over’ and ‘power to’ instances.
The central focus of global governance studies—the growing capacity of non-
state actors to permeate and challenge the inter-governmental structure(s)—
showed its limitations in the marked absence of a systematic understanding of
how governance worked in practice for a new domain such as the Internet. Nye
talked about ‘cyber governance’ (2014), using the regime complex theories for
mapping related activities. Levinson (2015) applied De Burca’s et al. (2014)
global experimental governance framework to Internet governance, highlighting
the difficulty of finding an appropriate conceptual framework for integrating
developments in this emerging field. Despite the important contribution of
Bourdieu and of scholars following in his footsteps, very little cumulative pro-
gress can be reported on the study of global fields of action in international
relations. In focus for regime theorists, the structuration6 of new issue domains
remains a theoretical concern, rarely anchored empirically.
Understood as relational, the act of governing focuses on associations and
interplay, rather than on separate units. If ‘entities are already entities be-
fore they enter into social relations with other entities’ (Jackson and Nexon
1999, 293), the perspective remains static. To conceive of them as dynamic
requires an implicit acceptance of ‘enactment’, the act of bringing structures
and events into existence and setting them in action, while simultaneously
designing ‘limitations’ to avoid unwanted directions (Weick 1988). The
Bourdieu-inspired preoccupation with capturing everyday activities initiated
the so-called ‘turn to practice’ in IR. More than simple actions or behaviours,
practices embody social organization and hierarchy and render communi-
ties cohesive. Dominant practices thus represent enactments of ‘constitutive
rules’, defining conduct and basic rules of thumb. They are performed by
6
Structuration is understood here as the formation and articulation of an issue domain, different
from the terminology used by Giddens in his post-empiricist ‘structuration theory’ (1984).
Research Focus, Central Question, and Argument 9
individuals and by networks recursively and obtain structural meaning in
time, through their insertion in a sociopolitical context. As such, habits shape
discourses and activities, shifting the focus of attention beyond individual
agency to systems of meaning embedded in structures and reproduced regu-
larly without questioning the rationale behind.
So far, IR studies dedicated to new issue domains remained by and large
abstruse regarding the emergence of governance and how it is achieved in
practical terms as both actors and instruments of governance proliferate. The
general tendency was to study one approach in isolation from the others with
a focus on the ‘novelty’ of interactions and, in particular, on an emergent in-
stitutional characteristic (Biersteker 2014). Despite the consensus around the
density and diversification of policy formation and implementation mechan-
isms, our tools for empirical investigation are slow to adapt to (better) cap-
turing this reality.
Amidst ongoing policy debates regarding the future of the Internet, it
is timely to revisit the origins and evolution of this fast-developing policy
domain that Levinson describes as an ‘ecosystem’, a setting where ‘multiple
stakeholders can interact and where conflicting interests and even conten-
tious collaborations can arise’ (2008, 1). This study opens up an important
agenda for discussing emerging issue domains such as Internet governance
by combining analyses of governance mechanisms and actors with dominant
practices.
Research Focus, Central Question, and Argument

What is at stake for how the Internet continues to evolve is the preservation of
its integrity as a single network. In practice, however, its governance is neither
centralized nor unitary. It is piecemeal and decentralized, with authoritative
decision-making coming from different sources simultaneously. Historically,
the conditions of their interaction were rarely defined beyond basic technical
coordination, due at first to the academic freedom granted to the researchers
developing the Internet and, later, to the sheer impossibility of controlling
mushrooming Internet initiatives. In 2018, more than 160 organizations and
entities contributed to creating rules for the global Internet. Cutting across
sectoral interests, Internet governance is (re)negotiated in numerous fora by a
variety of players, including governments, UN bodies, civil society organiza-
tions, businesses, technical and academic experts, as well as end-users.
The research question asked here aims to elucidate these relations in
order to locate authority and identify decision-making channels: How does
10
10 Introduction
governance emerge and get articulated globally in new issue domains? This
inquiry is both theory-and practice-oriented. Its first objective is to present
governance structures in interaction, rather than as static. In doing so, it re-
sponds to calls for understanding dynamic systems of rule as they come into
place in dense global governance configurations. It draws on an ulterior prob-
lematization of enacting governance in hybrid contexts, while unpacking the
historical origins of contemporary global arrangements beyond ‘an idealised
and constructed past’ (Biersteker 2014, 3). Providing an empirically grounded
analysis of Internet governance in a longitudinal perspective is the second ob-
jective of this study and a key contribution to the IR literature.
IG is neither a homogenous object of governance, nor of study. It can be—
and in fact is, in daily coordination activities—decomposed along a number
of dimensions, be they institutional mandates or thematic clusters, with spe-
cific governance arrangements for each. The analytical difficulty in breaking
apart this umbrella term stems from the constant state of flux, the vast scope
of inquiry, and the high socioeconomic and politico-military stakes associated
with this field. The association of the two terms, ‘Internet’ and ‘governance’
has been a subject of contention from the outset. Long negotiations around
definitional issues, such as the principle of common, but differentiated re-
sponsibilities and high-impact disclosures (2013 Snowden revelations, the
2010 WikiLeaks), merged with rapid technological developments to make
the complexity of the field reach new heights.
This book takes an initial inroad to a novel research agenda which trans-
lates global governance theory into praxis for a highly contested power do-
main. The increasing density of Internet governance arrangements presents
a number of analytical challenges and opportunities for IR theory. On the
one hand, it pushes for an interdisciplinary understanding of nascent issue
domains reflecting cross-sectoral concerns and global positioning struggles,
in particular between the developed and developing countries. On the other
hand, it opens the door for re-assessing underexplored dimensions for the
enactment of governance, namely its emergence and articulation. With this
in mind, I aim, in what follows, to provide a convincing account of the way
in which Internet governance emerged and is continuously articulated via
different mechanisms by an increasing number of stakeholders enacting dom-
inant practices. To achieve this, I deconstruct the evolution of the Internet
from its early days to date, exploring the meaning of governance at different
points in time and its effect on the structuration of a new global field. Based
on an in-depth historical and empirical analysis of the governance patterns
observed, I argue that the specificities of IG give us critical insights for theor-
izing about the lifecycle of new issue domains.
Method 11
Present dynamics have a historical dimension, the study of which is es-
sential for a holistic understanding of the field. With Bourdieusian inspir-
ation, I explore the genesis and structuration of a global domain in a dynamic
manner. Constituted, at a minimum, by a set of issues, mechanisms, and
practices, discursive and non-discursive, a field brings together actors in dis-
tinctive interaction modes. Analysing its evolution over time gives us a better
understanding of how governance is enacted, not least through performativity.
In that sense, the ‘reality of governance’ is not given, but achieved through
instruments, processes, and outcomes, as well as through our studies, presen-
tations, or policy briefs.
Method
To uncover the evolution of Internet governance as a global field of power,
the analysis undertaken here starts with the antecedents of the network of
networks, situating the 1970s ARPANET developments and the initial group
of scientists and governmental employees expanding internetworking under
contract with the US Department of Defense. The end-point of the research
is September 2018, providing an extensive observation space for the enact-
ment of governance. With more than 311 authoritative instruments of gov-
ernance at work—ranging from intergovernmental treaties to voluntary codes
of conduct—the complex picture that IG presents us with poses a number of
methodological challenges to the researcher.
Among these, the cross-sectoral nature of the Internet and the ongoing
technical and political developments call for the use of a mixed-method,
qualitative approach, relying on an in-depth historical analysis and an ex-
ploration of a self-constructed dataset of governance mechanisms spanning
1969–2015. In addition, I make extensive use of textual analysis and partici-
pant observation to further explore political tensions, dominant practices,
and community formation patterns. Over the last seven years, I was directly
involved in more than two dozen global IG processes and meetings and this
facilitated detailed discussions and interactions with IG experts, as well as the
observation of community practices.
In the constructivist tradition, I take methods to be integral to the nor-
mative construction of knowledge. The research design adopted here is
adapted to the deconstructive analytical framework I propose in Chapter 2,
highlighting three key dimensions of governance that provide a dynamic per-
spective. Accordingly, the governance actors, mechanisms, and anchoring
practices are investigated across three broad periods that reveal distinct
12
12 Introduction
governance patterns: (1) the early days of the Internet, dominated by in-
formal governance and governance through technical standards (1969–94);
(2) the boom of the commercial Internet, with private actors and business
practices flourishing (1995–2004); and (3) the decade of global regulatory
arrangements, featuring hybrid configurations (2005–15). For each of these,
I explore the interactions between actors and forms of governance as they are
formed and consolidated in time.
The dataset of governance instruments provides a unique vantage point,
allowing for charting the IG domain and subareas of interest as they emerge.
The entries in the dataset are further categorized into mechanisms of govern-
ance enactment and compared longitudinally. On this basis, the historical
analysis and the relevant insights from participant observation and textual
analysis provide a cohesive picture of a rather difficult-to-grasp, evolving do-
main. This involves tracking modalities of governance and actors in inter-
action over a long period of time, and mapping the emerging patterns and
shifts in a variety of ways. The analysis focuses on governance instruments
as outcomes of international processes, reviewing experiences over time in
six subdomains constitutive of the field: infrastructure and critical resources,
cybersecurity, legal issues, digital economy, ICT for development, and civil
liberties.
In addition, a set of grounding practices are investigated in this study
as the depiction of governance in everyday activities (what people do).
Methodologically, the challenge is to make the invisible visible, namely
the anchoring of activities in meanings that are specific to the communi-
ties implementing them. Meaning-making thus becomes dependent on the
hidden assumptions, underlying logics or courses of action that are power-
laden. Just like the choice of governance instruments, the practices that
dominate over time represent normative and value expressions. Calling their
origin into question is the critical endeavour contributed to here.
Structure of the Book

The analysis of the Internet as a global issue domain is both challenging and
enticing. Its politically negotiated system of rules, built on technical features
and power sensitivities specific to the field, is explored here in five chapters,
followed by concluding remarks. Aiming to shed light on contemporary dy-
namics of governance, this book addresses both scholars and practitioners. It
provides a fresh perspective on the structuration of a nascent field of global
governance, a timely addition to the study of international affairs.
Structure of the Book 13
The next chapter explores the global governance scholarship and its cross-
fertilization with the study of Internet developments. Clustered around three
prominent themes in international affairs—varieties of governance, sources
of authority, and praxis—the chapter scrutinizes scattered, often implicit pro-
posals on the emergence and articulation of governance. It links these to more
recent attempts to study the Internet as part of distinct repertoires, identifying
the genesis and structuration of new issue domains as a marginal focus in the
literature. Based on a deconstructive approach, it provides a guiding frame
that distinguishes between three key dimensions for the enactment of gov-
ernance: mechanisms, actors, and anchoring practices. Methodologically, this
translates into a complex research design combining historical and empirical
analysis, subsequently detailed.
Chapters 3, 4, and 5 each investigate a specific period in the evolution of
IG as a global domain, starting with the origins. The three phases covered
by the dataset are: the 1970s to 1994, 1995–2004, and 2005–15. In the
early days the Internet was a rather homogenous domain, closely linked to
computer science and networking experiments. The rules designed for its
management were function-and efficiency-driven. Starting in 1983, dif-
ferent forms of governance, combining public and private initiatives, begin to
profile, largely around an active community of professionals in the Advanced
Research Projects Agency (ARPA) network. Until the expansion and com-
mercialization of the Internet in the mid-1990s, the predominant governance
route was that of standards and protocols making networks interoperable.
In a path-dependent trajectory, Internet services remained exempted from
regulation. Chapter 3 thus sets the stage for the long-term analysis of the
evolution of the field.
Chapter 4 delves into the salient role of corporate actors in Internet pol-
icymaking as the network became private and global. Market dynamics drove
the development of the field and the digital economy shifted attention to
the potential of the network in the neoliberal understanding. From the mid-
1990s to mid-2000, three major shifts occurred in Internet governance ar-
rangements: they grew in size, scale, and scope. A number of rules for the
technical management of the network were defined during this period and
the bodies in charge consolidated their institutional structure. The emergence
of political contestation also dates back to this period, when the positions of
developing countries on key IG issues started to consolidate.
The governance of the Internet faced a reflexive turn throughout the
World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) decade (2005–15), explored
in Chapter 5. Concerns for authority, legitimacy, and accountability—
expressed by different stakeholders—became central to the evolution of the
field. A number of challenges, stemming from three diverse sources, were
14
14 Introduction
embedded therein. First, questions were spawned by the modus operandi
of the sui generis institutions, such as the international technical bodies
exercising public governance functions to ensure the continuous functioning
of the Internet. Second, demands resulted from the gradual adaptation of
intergovernmental organizations with core or tangential interests in the field.
Third, the role of private intermediaries was called into question as their fi-
nancial and political power rose steeply. Their relation to governments was
also probed, particularly after the 2013 Snowden leaks.
Chapter 6 locates authority and agency in Internet governance, thus
disentangling the power threads in the field and in the community enacting
it. Starting with a longitudinal, comparative perspective of the governance
trends identified in previous chapters, it discusses the changing role of Internet
companies and influential states in post-2015 developments, zooming in on
market dynamics, cyber norm debates, and artificial intelligence strategies. It
further analyses community formation patterns in IG, presenting the internal
dynamics of decision-making and the perpetuation of core values among
newcomer groups. Against the continuous expansion and diversification of
the field, this section traces the many continuities that structure a now ma-
ture field of power.
The final chapter concludes, highlighting the outcomes and the contribu-
tions of this book to IR and IG, theoretically and empirically. It clarifies how
the findings of this research fit in the ongoing policy debates and in the global
governance scholarship and reflects on the value of the research agenda pro-
posed here. Last but not least, the closing chapter offers analytical directions
for future explorations of governance emergence and structuration in new
global fields.
2
Deconstructing Internet Governance:
A Framework for Analysis
At the core of governance debates is the conceptualization of power, diffused

and commanded in novel ways with the advent of new technology and new
actors. In one of the shortest definitions ever given, governance is ‘order plus
intentionality’ (Rosenau 1992, 5), representing a political act with forms of
inclusion and exclusion and, inherently, an expression of power. Its use with
reference to the Internet carries the same meaning, exposing an intricate net-
work of hierarchical and social relations, only comparable to the complex
technical architecture on which it relies. Despite the plethora of writings on
globalization and technological change, a more refined look at governance is
required in order to understand nascent global domains, in particular their
genesis and structuration.
Part of broader governance transformations, Internet policy-making re-
mains polycentric and in flux. Metaphorically, Ziewitz and Pentzold refer to
Internet governance (IG) as a ‘difficult horse to catch’ (2014, 306). Studying
its institutions, rule systems, and steering mechanisms remains particularly
challenging due to an ever-increasing number of processes spanning global
and regional levels. The tendency to study modes of governance in isolation
partially explains the limited engagement with this in international affairs.
Its direct effect on the foundational international relations (IR) scholarship
is the false assumption that problem-solving drives institutional interactions
in an undifferentiated manner. I propose below an analytical framework that
challenges the idea of the Internet as a homogenous object of governance by
distinguishing among three key dimensions for observing variation: mechan-
isms, actors, and practices of governance.
The deconstruction exercise undertaken here serves two purposes: first, it
positions central elements required to understand the emergence and articu-
lation of IG and delineates its evolution phases. Second, it underscores how
the governance concept is a broad, yet powerful analytical framework for
exploring the multifaceted ways in which regulatory arrangements come into
Negotiating Internet Governance. Roxana Radu © Roxana Radu 2019. Published 2019 by Oxford
University Press.
16
16 Deconstructing Internet Governance

being, in addition to decision-making processes and coordination proced-
ures. The deconstructive analysis used here strips the concept of its ideo-
logical connotations in a first phase and adds the context, power dynamics,
and actors in a second phase. After exploring the global governance literature
in search of tenets that provide useful insights for the present analysis, this
chapter elaborates on the framework of analysis in use and the research design
guiding this study.
Global Governance Repertoires and the Internet

The asymmetric concentration of technology in the West, the birth of the
Internet in the American context, and the evolving space for regulatory input
were at first considered in isolation, rather than as part of broader trans-
formations in governance. Until recently, limited attention was paid in IR
to the way in which global priorities permeate daily operations, regulatory
standards, and action plans. This was partly due to a split in the way govern-
ance was conceptualized. Reflecting on this polarization, Graz (2014) dis-
tinguished between functional and structural theories of governance. At the
core of functional theories is the drive to ‘get things done’ and find solutions
to concrete problems. Focusing on the exercise of power through practices,
functional governance theorists generally investigate coordination and com-
petition, decision-making processes, and institutional design. They tend to
converge around forms of steering and regulation1 similar to or distinct from
governmental operations.
In line with the critical tradition in International Political Economy (Shields
et al. 2011; Cohen 2014), structural theories of global governance address
complex interconnections, sites of authority, and power relations among
actors, analysing underlying ideologies, as well as market and state system
transformations; they make normative claims about the reconfiguration of
objects and subjects of authority and question governing epistemologies and
inclusion/exclusion mechanisms. Accountability, democratic practices, and
inclusiveness at the global level are also explored. Interrogations on the role of
technology in supporting, advancing, and reinforcing ideologies, while dom-
inant in science and technology studies, remain rather limited in IG (excep-
tions include Mueller 2004; deNardis 2009; Chenou 2014; Carr 2016).
1
Baldwin et al. (1998) assert that there are three distinct concepts of regulation: (a) authoritative
rules; (b) efforts of state agencies to steer the economy; and (c) mechanisms of social control (widest
sense). Throughout this book, regulation is predominantly understood as authoritative rules.
The diversity of approaches that attempt to explain contemporary govern-
ance processes cannot be disconnected from the modalities employed. Early
influential work on global governance focused— almost exclusively— on
formal mechanisms; subsequent writings provided a more nuanced approach
by integrating informality and everyday practices. Twenty-five years after the
seminal work of Rosenau and Czempiel (1992) on ‘governance without gov-
ernment’, a number of limitations and blind spots constrain the theoretical
expansion of this promising agenda. In pointing out how governance is dif-
ferent from government, the majority of studies have been modelled on the
state/non-state actor dichotomy (Stoker 1998) and processes that are most
visible in a number of issue areas, emphasizing similarities and differences
with governmental ordering (Graz 2014, 5).
A granular approach to ‘changing modes of governance’ emerging in the
2000s (Pierre 2000; Kooiman 2003; Pierre and Peters 2005) revived the
debates by introducing a dynamic perspective. It inspired a diversity of ap-
proaches: transnational new governance (Abbott and Snidal 2009), ‘public–
private partnerships’ (Boerzel and Risse 2005, 2010; Andonova 2010, 2014),
‘multistakeholder initiatives’ (Jerbi 2012; Raymond and deNardis 2015;
Radu et al. 2015), or transnational policy networks (Biersteker 2014). This
added to the complexity of understanding formal mechanisms, and provided
a basis for cumulative knowledge on the inner workings of global governance.
Importantly, these endeavours also noted the degree of informality within and
outside formal decision-making and shifted attention to what is not directly
observable and remains largely non-codified in global policymaking. Relying
on non-binding forms of cooperation and selected membership (no mandate
or formal entitlement), informal governance dominates IG processes, but re-
mains largely understudied.
The mechanisms through which informal governance emerges originate
either with networks or with processes. In the first category, elites design and
impose or interact strategically to reach the expected outcomes; in the second,
decentralized processes with a plethora of actors require coordination mech-
anisms, one-stop-shops as focal points, bargaining or repeated interactions
bargaining (Knight 1992). Guy Peters (2007) proposes to divide informal
governance into soft law, networks, partnerships, co-production, multilevel
governance, and open method of coordination. Broadly understood, informal
governance refers to the ‘operation of networks of individual and collective,
private and public actors pursuing common goals’ (Christiansen et al. 2003,
7). Some of these elements are also employed in the norm-building literature,
where human agency, indeterminacy, chance occurrences, and favourable
events are generally explored to explain emergence, primarily through process
tracing or genealogy.
18

Building on the work of Finnemore and Sikkink (1998), the norms cre-
ation dimension is emphasized in global governance discussions of ‘norm
entrepreneurs’ and ‘organizational platforms’. This is consonant with the
‘networked governance’ approach applied to Internet security by Mueller
et al. (2013) for the identification of interdependent actors that opt for col-
laboration or for unilateral action in the absence of overarching authority.
Defining, enforcing, and reproducing norms stands at the basis of governance
articulation, which can take numerous forms and shapes. Various governance
mechanisms co-exist simultaneously, making the process of designing norms
highly complex and oftentimes hybrid, with multiple sources of authority
involved. Opening up IG to the conditions of its formation permits an in-
depth tracing of the individuals behind influential proposals that later on
consolidate into powerful institutional forms.
A useful analytical tool to distil the multidimensional governance concept
is the distinction between what is observable through concrete outcomes and
what remains invisible to the public eye. Understanding that technology, just
like the regulatory infrastructure on which is it built, is not neutral, allows
for a methodically sound investigation of formality and informality. The first
comprises the mechanisms set in place by decision-makers, be they hard or
soft law instruments. The latter captures the role of actors beyond what can
be quantified and power dynamics that are reproduced in everyday practices,
sometimes without a conscientious acknowledgement of the effects.
This vantage point bridges a number of disciplinary approaches and per-
mits the exploration of key dimensions from the (meta)theoretical repertoires
of global governance that best explain how the Internet evolved into a field of
global power. These elements inform the analytical framework presented sub-
sequently. For each research stream, I also explore, where available, related,
oftentimes implicit hypotheses on the emergence and articulation of govern-
ance and assess their relation to IG developments and writings.
Varieties of Governance
Formal outcomes of international negotiation processes, in particular treaties
and conventions signed and ratified by states, have been meticulously studied
post-Second World War. The focus on transnational cooperation and imple-
mentation of international law surfaced early on, exhibiting a plethora of
governance means applied outside the domestic sphere. Born out of a mili-
tary project of the US government at the end of the 1960s, ARPANET, the
precursor of the Internet offered little of interest to scholars of global gov-
ernance, but set in motion the greatest revolution in telecommunications
and subsequently in socio-economic affairs. To be understood as a new and
influential policy field, the Internet needed to reach a global scale. It now
accounts for structural changes in power distribution, power perception, and
behaviour shaping, but does not fit swiftly into a single theoretical stream.
The many instances of private initiative and cooperation across stakeholder
groups stand at odds with the statist perspective, while governance arrange-
ments mixing the formal and the informal escape a streamlined theorization.
The international regime theory, developed in the 1980s, provided new
impetus for the analysis of global institutional arrangements. Its contribu-
tion to disentangling modalities of governance is significant here for two
reasons: first, it pinpointed the complex process around establishing rules,
norms, and principles to be adopted by a wide range of actors; second, it
provided the terminology for issue-areas, which constitutes a starting point
for this study. Krasner defined international regimes as ‘sets of implicit or ex-
plicit principles, norms, rules and decision-making procedures around which
actors’ expectations converge in a given area of international relations’ (1983,
19). According to him, ‘principles are beliefs of fact, causation, and rectitude.
Norms are standards of behaviour defined in terms of rights and obligations.
Rules are specific prescriptions or proscriptions for action. Decision-making
procedures are prevailing practices for making and implementing collective
choice’ (Krasner 1983, 2). Formally, the members of international regimes
were sovereign nations (generally treated as monolith entities), yet implemen-
tation of actions governed by international regimes could and often was con-
ducted by private entities (Young 1982) and usually constrained elites within
states (Puchala and Hopkins 1982).
Regimes assigned power to collective units, which develop, agree, enforce
rules and establish institutions. In early approaches, agency was eluded as
emphasis was placed on regime principles, rather than on the role of specific
organizations or individuals. Critiques pointed out the degree of ‘imprecision
and woolliness’ (Strange 1983) surrounding the regime theory and the im-
plicit risk of tautology: ‘theories about regimes have run into trouble when
the same theory explained the origin, as well as the maintenance or the de-
mise of a regime’ (Smith 1987).
Newer strands of research, expanded to ‘regime complexes’, address up-
front the role of active leadership (structural, intellectual, charismatic) in pro-
moting cooperation (Keohane and Victor 2010). For Raustiala and Victor
(2004), a regime complex represents an ‘array of partially overlapping and
non-hierarchical institutions governing a particular issue area’. Orsini et al. re-
fine this to understand a regime complex as ‘a network of three or more inter-
national regimes that relate to a common subject matter; exhibit overlapping
membership; and generate substantive, normative or operative interactions
20

recognized as potentially problematic whether or not they are managed ef-
fectively’ (2013, 29). Mueller, Mathiason, and Klein (2007) and Nye (2011)
subsequently applied this understanding to the governance of the Internet.
Mixing norms, institutions, and procedures of both formal and informal
nature, Nye (2014) takes this further and reflects on ‘the regime complex for
managing global cyber activities’. However, his analysis and similar attempts
to apply the regime complex framework to IG remain oblivious of organ-
izational infrastructure and stop short of defining the relevant ‘nodes’ in the
networks constituting regime complexes (Levinson and Marzouki 2015). The
other major limitation is the difficulty in explaining how regime shifts occur.
Helfer suggests that regime shifting works by ‘broadening the policy spaces
within which decisions are made and rules are adopted’ (2009, 39), but it re-
mains unclear how this applies across various IG subfields.
Despite its shortcomings, the regime theory literature needs to be cred-
ited for its contribution to the development of the ‘issue area’ concept as a
deliberate cluster of concerns. In early theorization, regimes were originally
established to regulate single issues (fishing, money, radio frequencies, etc.)
rather than issue domains. As seen earlier in the discussion on regime com-
plexes, the boundaries of an issue domain are rarely clearly delimited, and
different groups may disagree on what could be included under a certain
label, meaning that the process of contestation is continuous. Changes in an
issue domain are rarely tackled convincingly by regime theorists. As any other
evolving process, issue development is affected by internal and external fac-
tors that cannot be properly captured in a static theory. A dialectic approach
is thus more adequate. The tenets discussed above remain incomplete without
a clear picture of how they come into play in the constitution of a global field
of power. This book sheds light on how such dynamics get established and
articulated over time in ruling the Internet.
The complexity of existing orderings gets more difficult to distil as their
mixed nature allows for strengthening the public or the private character
of organizations in ways that best suit the case at hand. The same entity
might be treated as public for some purposes and as private for some other.
Moreover, informal governance arrangements, a well-established form of co-
operation at the international level, are often obscured in the theorization
of governance regimes. For Abbott and Snidal (2000), they represent transi-
tory arrangements on the path to legalization, whereas for Biersteker (2014)
and Pauwelyn et al. (2013) they are a permanent feature of contemporary
governance. Non-binding forms of governance (‘soft law’) and sector-specific
policy communities foster information exchange, clarify legal and technical
matters, have the potential to table solutions and narrow down policy op-
tions, as well as extend the reach of agreements that can be rubber-stamped
in formal processes. Conversely, they render processes of policy inclusion nar-
rower through selective participation and constraints through pre-decisions,
while increasing the potential for rule fluctuation, non-codification abuse,
and deficient accountability.
A global policy space is made up of relations that can be observed and
those that are hidden to the public eye. In the Bourdieusian tradition, the
processes of inclusion and exclusion are intrinsic to the structuration of the
field2 and, thus, to its hierarchical disposition. The IG field is seen here as a
setting in which agents situate themselves via social positions. Shaped by the
interactions taking place, the field is structured according to rules that are
specified in the process of constructing the domain, but also based on the
agent’s habitus and capital, be it social, economic, or political. For Bourdieu,
power and class relations structure internally the system of social positions,
thus turning the field into an arena of struggle for the appropriation of dif-
ferent forms of capital.
He makes an important distinction between the vertical and the horizontal
organization of a field. While the first is a hierarchical dimension of structur-
ation, the latter is a transversal one, applying across different subfields with
equal purchase. Both are forms of power that can be observed in the consti-
tution of new issue domains, in particular as they undergo differentiation to
become independent or autonomous spaces of rule-making. To situate these
dynamics, a broader perspective on the IG shifts is needed, revealing the ex-
tent to which this new domain is influenced by global ordering trends, regu-
latory or deregulatory.
As a sociopolitical, hybrid space, the Internet we know today comprises
different modes of governance instituted at the global level, including tech-
nical decisions, private business policies, and international regulatory ar-
rangements, as well as formal and informal mechanisms and practices that
become authoritative in the everyday operation of the network. Having clari-
fied the varieties of governance presented in the literature, authority sources
and practices are discussed next as concrete ways to develop and implement
norms and principles for regulating a new issue domain.
State and Private Authority

Conceptualized either as a unitary actor or as an elaborate network, the state
re-surfaces at junction points in IG discussions. Contrary to dynamics in
other international domains, state control is highly contested in the Internet
2
Bourdieu’s field concept is used in this analysis interchangeably with ‘domain’ to refer to the
relations established for creating a global system of rules for the governance of the Internet.
2

arena, where new governance arrangements emerged in quasi-private setups
like the Internet technical standards and protocols or the allocation of do-
main names. Operations critical to the functioning of the Internet remain
exclusively in private hands, including submarine cable production and de-
ployment, Internet access provision, and the majority of services and products
available on the web. Alongside the public Internet, many private Internet
spaces developed, such as Intranets, estimated to be ten times larger than the
public network (Brown and Marsden 2013).
The ‘hollowing out of the state’ (Rhodes 1994) predicted a complex pro-
cess through which state functions were privatized, devolved, eroded, or
transferred at supra-national (EU) or international levels. In such situations,
governments engaged in cross-sector partnerships, entering constellations
of actors and decision-making processes in which they were not endowed
with final authority, though they could (re)turn to the position of regulators
(Majone 1996; Higgott et al. 2000; Moran 2002). The ‘retreat of the state’
(Strange 1996) suggested the enabling cooperative mechanisms of meta-
coordination, namely rules, frameworks, and regulation of externalities.
Closely related was the thesis of ‘state orchestration’, with governments acting
as incentivizers, initiators, or implementers (Abbott et al. 2015; Jerbi 2015).
Internet governance studies have long been explicitly concerned with the
role of the state and its multiple transformations in a hybrid environment.
Celebrating the multiplicity of regulatory frameworks and mechanisms in
place, their novelty and the characteristics of the actors involved in these
processes oftentimes eluded the substance of governance debates and power
positionings. Institutional design—and later on the focus on broadly defined
stakeholder participation in decision- making— shifted attention towards
the state as a catalyst, funder, or partner (van Eeten et al. 2014). Novel, yet
fragmented governance arrangements are generally preferred as a focus of re-
search: voluntary schemes such as the Global Network Initiative (Jerbi 2015),
institutional innovations like the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
and Numbers (ICANN) or the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) (Mueller
2004; Antonova 2007; Malcolm 2008), transnational state networks on
cybersecurity or child online protection (Livingston 2013), multistakeholder
initiatives and public–private partnerships (Schmidt 2014), or crowdsourcing
initiatives (Radu et al. 2015).
Territoriality, a key concept for state-centric approaches, saw a gradual
shift in meaning, from exercising control over hard borders to control-
ling networks and soft borders (Biersteker 2014). Unlike what early cyber-
libertarians proclaimed, the Internet was not ‘unbound with respect to
geography’ (Goldsmith and Wu 2006, 58) and sovereign principles domin-
ated technical specifications, in particular through the laying of cables and
the use of location-sensitive software. Examples abound: complete Internet
shutdowns occurred in 2011 at the request of governments amidst mass pro-
tests in Egypt, Libya, and Syria; ‘cyber-sovereign’ China created its own ver-
sion of the network; and the United States only ended its oversight over the
ICANN in September 2016.
At the other end of the spectrum, private rule-making processes were
studied, among others, by Risse (2006), Boerzel and Risse (2005), Pattberg
(2005), Kirton and Trebilcock (2004), who laid the foundations for a plur-
alistic understanding of spheres of authority, with insights from sociology,
history, political science, and economics. Forms of private governance dis-
cussed in the literature range from corporate social responsibility (Vogel
2005), voluntary instruments (Ruggie 2004), and industry self-regulation
(Webb 2002) to user-generated or Web 2.0 content regulation (O’Reilly
2005). Non-state actors actively involved in world politics may be motivated
by ‘universal values or factional greed, by profit and efficiency considerations,
or the search for salvation’ (Ruggie 2004, 509).
As a key problematique in contemporary governance studies, the prolif-
eration of private actors and the diversification of their means of action is
also relevant for this study. Private initiative is a dominant causal explanation
for how governance comes into being, as well as for the structuring of par-
ticular configurations of governance (Cutler et al. 1999; Hall and Biersteker
2002; Bjola and Kornprobst 2010), generally perceived as more flexible and
innovation-fostering. Originally, Cutler et al. (1999), Haufler (2001), and
Hall and Biersteker (2002) investigated how governance functions formerly
performed by states became privatized and outsourced to private actors. Hall
and Biersteker identified three types of private authority—market-based,
moral, and illicit—through which ‘non-state actors cooperate across borders
to establish rules and standards of behaviour accepted as legitimate by agents
not involved in their definition’ (Nolke and Graz 2008, 2).
Hall and Biersteker also draw attention to the ‘the reversibility of private
authority’ (2002, 213), discussing how the state might supersede the private
arrangements and how authority might be undermined in a salient polit-
ical situation. Their book does not offer a single answer to the question of
when reversibility occurs, noting that allowing or limiting private authority
depends on the case at hand. What the contributors to the volume agree on is
that a reversal of authority has long-term consequences and becomes costlier
over time. Internet policymaking, notably in the last decade, offers many in-
stances of authority being transferred back to governments, with closer super-
vision imposed, in particular on matters of cybersecurity and data protection.
Today, global governance scholars agree that authority is diffused, decision-
making is in part privatized, and the nature of global challenges requires a
24

multiplicity of structures and means of implementation. Among these, semi-
private, quasi-public initiatives such as the Global Environmental Facility,
Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, Global Water partner-
ship, or the Anti-Spam Alliance bring together businesses, governments,
civil society groups, and international organizations (IOs) from the outset.
Standardization bodies performing global roles of accreditation and coord-
ination are sometimes privately owned. Law-like arrangements with private
institutions are not uncommon, in particular in dispute resolution in IG. The
legitimacy of these configurations rests with the work of communities, who
reiterate their practices and routines to bring about contestation or accept-
ance and buy-in.
Praxis
Understanding how processes and actions are shaped on a daily basis required
a change of perspective and that came about with the praxeological turn. The
concrete observation of discourses and routines had a long tradition in soci-
ology and anthropology (Geertz 1973; Cetina 1981; Adler 2013; Autesserre
2014), but only recently captured the attention of IG scholars (Flyverbom
2011; Epstein 2013). Global governance-focused contributions in this trad-
ition emphasized shared practices as part of daily habits, dissecting the tacit
understandings and knowledge that make such interactions meaningful
(Neumann and Sending 2010; Eagleton-Pierce 2013; Best and Gheciu 2014;
Bueger 2016; Pouliot 2016).
In world politics, routines explain actions that seem spontaneous and guide
us through the translation of what is invisible, but authoritative (Bourdieu
1976). They demarcate the inclusion/exclusion lines and embedded power
mechanisms, providing insight into organizational logics. Oftentimes, they
become visible through the dichotomies and oppositions used: sane versus
mad (Foucault 1965), dominant versus dominated. In line with Bourdieu’s
work, a practice approach pushes for identifying the modus operandi of ‘the
field’ before defining the actors. A field is structured according to a system of
binary oppositions (orthodox/heterodox, sacred/profane) and is socially con-
structed, with broadly defined limits ‘situated at the point where effects of the
field cease’ (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992, 100).
Practice theory insists on the mutual constitution of social structure and
action. It shifts the realm of investigation from the ideational level to the
physical and the habitual (Swidler 2001). But how do they come into place, if
not formulated directly as such? Bourdieu (1976) provides a partial answer to
this: in his view, people replicate the constitutive rules not with the intention
Another random document with
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"'Your company may be choice, but I can't say much for their place of meeting,' observed
Sands."
"My father unclosed the door of an attic-room, and was received with a burst of welcome
from a dozen young voices within. The room was small, close, and dimly lighted by a
single candle; but it was impossible to look without interest on the pale, hungry-looking,
but intelligent little beings with whom it was crowded; all poor, some barefoot, yet in their
poverty as much the children of God and heirs of eternal life as the nobles and princes of
the land. My father asked after the mother of this one, and the sick sister of that, winning
the hearts of his scholars by his look of kindly interest; and, after a few minutes spent in
this manner, 'Now, let us begin with a hymn,' said he."
"'Jerusalem, my happy home!' How strangely sweet it must have sounded to hear the
voices of those ragged children sing of the 'pearly gates' and 'streets of shining gold' of the
heavenly dwelling-place above, within the walls of that miserable attic! Sands remained an
attentive, perhaps an interested, listener for the two hours during which his companion's
labours lasted. When they found themselves again in the street, he remarked:
"'Well, certainly there is some difference between your kind of society and the jolly parties
to which I am accustomed at the White Hart, or Saracen's Head.'"
"'But are all the pleasures which you may have enjoyed there worth the hope of meeting
one of those little ones in heaven, when the kingdom of God shall have come?'"
"Sands made no reply, and walked back in silence."
"A day of trouble was coming for my father, in which he would need all the comfort which
religion and a good conscience could give. He was sent one evening to a customer with a
parcel of valuable goods, for which he was to receive payment. Thinking of lending one of
his little friends in gold and blue to a widow who kept a stall near the square to which he
was going, he opened his pocket-book which he carried with him, and placed one of the
copies in it. The woman had, however, left her stand, so this opportunity of doing good
was lost for the time. The customer received the goods, and paid for them, and two five-
pound notes were carefully placed by my father in the pocket-book beside the little
publication."
"The streets were much crowded on his return, for there were preparations for a grand
illumination. My father did not loiter on his way, but his attention was naturally attracted
by the splendid stars and wreaths, which were beginning to be lighted up as he passed. As
he entered his master's shop, he put his hand into his pocket, and his surprise and distress
may be readily imagined, when he found it entirely empty. His first impulse was to retrace
his steps, which he did, though with scarcely the faintest hope of success; glancing vainly
down on every side, asking bystanders the question which always received the same
discouraging answer. All the glories of the illumination were lost upon him; he could think
of nothing but his lost bank-notes."
"Weary and sad, he returned to his home, where he had to wait for an hour—a most
painful hour it was—till his master returned from seeing the illumination. The confession of
his loss was frankly made, with every expression of heartfelt regret; but the anger of the
haberdasher was beyond all bounds, and he treated my unhappy father as though the
money had not been lost but stolen by him. Whether the master had indulged too freely in
drink that night, I know not, but I think it more than probable; he abused my father in
violent terms, dismissed him from his service, refused to give him even a character, and,
for his own convenience alone, allowed him to remain beneath his roof until he could
procure some one to supply his place."
"My father retired to his little room with an almost breaking heart. I have often heard him
say that this was the bitterest moment of his life. To lose his place was misfortune enough;
but his character—that which was dearer than life! He could scarcely restrain his burning
tears! But he laid his troubles before his God; he remembered that the Almighty afflicts
not in vain, that the Lord would yet make his innocence clear before all, if not in this world,
yet in the kingdom which is to come."
"As he was rising from his knees, Sands entered the room, having heard of the misfortune
of his companion. Sands was a kind-hearted fellow, and really liked my father, and tried in
his rough way to comfort him.
"'I am heartily sorry that you are going,' he said, in conclusion; 'I assure you, Viner, that I
would do anything for you.'"
"'Then you will not refuse this little remembrance from a friend,' said my father, placing in
his hand one of the books in gold and blue, from which he had just himself been drawing
counsel and comfort. 'For my sake, you will read this little work through, and God bless
you, Sands, and reward you for the kindness which you have shown to a friend in
disgrace!'"
"And did Sands read it?" inquired Walter.
"I believe that he did. I remember seeing him as a gray-headed old man, and he then
showed me his little copy in gold and blue, looking very much the worse for wear; and he
told me that he thought that if there were any good in him, he owed it to the example and
advice of my father."
"And was your father obliged to leave his situation?"
"Some delay occurred in supplying his place; he was, therefore, allowed to remain about
ten days longer. He felt very sad and low on the Sunday evening on which he was to pay
his last visit to his little school, for as he had as yet been unable to get another situation in
London, he intended to return to his mother."
"He found his young pupils ready for him as usual; but a cloud of sorrow was over them,
for they know that they were to welcome their kind teacher no more. My father tried to
improve to them even the occasion of their mutual distress; he spoke to them of the place
where there is no more parting, of the unending joys prepared for God's servants when His
kingdom of glory shall come. He concluded by placing before the children his last
remaining copy of the book in gold and blue, and offering it as a prize to the most
industrious pupil, on condition of his reading it aloud to his companions."
"'Oh! That is just like the book which makes my mother sad!' cried a little barefooted boy
from a corner of the room."
"My father started at the words, for he thought of that which he well remembered having
placed in his lost pocket-book!"
"'Where did your mother get one like this? How long has she had it?' he cried eagerly."
"'I don't know where she got it,' replied the child, looking down. 'I think that she has had it
about a week; she laughed when she began to read it, but, before she had done, she was
crying as I never saw her cry before.'"
"After the lesson was over, and my father had received the oft-repeated farewells and good
wishes of his pupils, not unmixed with tears, which went warmer to his heart than all the
praises of man could have done, he laid his hand on the arm of the barefooted boy, and
gently drew him along with him down the steep staircase, until they stood together in the
street."
"'I should like to see your mother,' he said to the boy."
"'She lives quite near, just round the corner; I will take you to her if you wish it,' replied
the child."
"'Am I foolish to indulge this strange hope?' thought my father, as he followed his little
guide. 'But nowhere else have I seen any books like my three, and it may be that the
Almighty has granted me a clue by which to find out the lost property of my master, and
clear my own character from suspicion.'"
"With a heart beating faster than usual, my father was led by the boy to a neighbouring
house, as low and dirty as the one which they had just quitted. They ascended to a room
upon the second floor, where a woman sat alone, engaged in reading. At the first glance
my father recognised the book which she held in her hand. It is that, Walter, which you
now see in the possession of his son."
"The exclamation which he uttered startled the woman; she turned round hastily with an
expression of fear on her face—the book dropped from her hand as, gazing wildly on my
father, she exclaimed, 'It is he! Oh what strange fortune has brought him here!'"
"'Not fortune,' said my father with emotion, as he raised the little book, 'but, as I believe,
a gracious Providence, who will surely bring both guilt and innocence to light.'"
"'I knew it—I knew it!' cried the woman, clasping her hands. 'Since the night when I
robbed you I have had no peace; that book has been like a sword in my conscience—I
would have restored what I had taken, had I known where to find its owner, and see—see
my own child has led him to my door!' Hastening to a corner of her room, with trembling
hands she opened a deal box, and frees the very bottom of it, under heaps of rags and
rubbish, she drew forth my father's lost pocket-book!"
"Think, only think, how much delighted he must have been to see it!" cried Nelly.
"He could scarcely believe that he was not in a dream when the wretched woman placed it
in his hand; and when on opening it he saw the two bank-notes, a feeling of overpowering,
thankfulness filled his soul, and made him unable to speak."
"'Take it—it is just as when you lost it—I dared not change the notes,' said the woman;
'and oh I have mercy on a wretched creature; do not give me up to the police! It was my
first theft; indeed, indeed it was, and I will never be guilty of one again!'"
"Did your father give her up to punishment?" inquired Walter, with interest.
"No; he was full of compassion for the unhappy woman, and never, as long as she lived,
lost sight either of her or her son. He was able to procure for her a little employment from
his master—set her thus in the way of honestly earning her living, and had reason to hope
that that Sabbath evening was the turning-point of her life."
"And your father, I suppose, kept his situation after all?"
"He kept it for many years, and lived respected even by those who were strangers to the
principles by which he was guided during life. He was, indeed, as the faithful servant,
ready girded, and watchful for the coming of his Lord. Happy those who thus watch and
wait for His appearing, who expect it not with fear, but with hope and joy; God's kingdom
has already begun in their hearts, they count no effort great to win souls to His service,
and the acts of their lives, as well as the words of their lips, seem to say:
"THY KINGDOM COME!"
CHAPTER IV.
"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
THE Sabbath dawned upon the village of E—, the day which the Lord has appointed for His
own, that day which, when kept holy to religion and rest, leaves an especial blessing
behind it. About two hours before the time for attending morning service, Viner took his
little Bible in his hand, and walked with his daughter to the sea-beach, where, seated on a
shelving shingle, with the wide ocean heaving and sparkling before them, they enjoyed
together a quiet time for reading and speaking of the things of God.
On their return, to their utmost surprise, they found the shop open, the shutters down,
and Walter placing some vegetables on the board.
"O father!" exclaimed Nelly, "Has Walter forgotten what day it is?"
"What are you doing?" said Viner, as he entered. "My shop always is closed upon Sundays;
I thought that I had mentioned this to you before."
"Yes," replied the boy, "you did so, but look there!" And he pointed to the tempting display
in Goldie's window. "Is he to have all the custom and the cash, he who is ten times richer
than you are!"
"What he has—what he does is no excuse for me; it is not for him that I must answer
before God. Put up those shutters again, Walter."
Walter obeyed sullenly, with a look which told that he was not at all convinced of the
wisdom of the order. Viner then drew him into the shop, and said, "Is not one of the Ten
Commandments, given from the mouth of the Lord God Himself amid the flames and
thunder of Mount Sinai, 'Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day; in it thou shalt
do no manner of work'?"
Walter nodded assent.

"Is there not a blessing for those who obey this command? Look here," said Viner, opening
his Bible, and pointing to these words from the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah: "If thou turn
away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the
Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour Him, not doing thine
own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou
delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth,
and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken
it."
"That may have been so once, but I don't believe that it is so now," said Walter.
"God knows no variableness, neither shadow of turning, He is 'the same yesterday, to-day,
and forever!'"
"I only know," muttered Walter, "that the way in which you go on is the way to starve."
"Do you believe that our Heavenly Father ever suffers any one to starve for obeying His
commandment?"
"I can't tell," replied Walter, still rather surlily.
"Do you believe that He, to whom all the treasures of earth and heaven belong, who
created the world and every living thing upon it, is able to provide for our wants?"
"I believe that the Almighty is able."
"But you doubt that He is willing?"
Walter was silent.
"I must speak to you again from His Word, that Word which can never be broken." Viner
turned to the thirty-third Psalm and read—"'Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that
fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep
them alive in famine.' Again, in the thirty-seventh Psalm it is written—'Trust in the Lord
and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. A little that the
righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. I have been young, and now
am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.'"
"Oh! Remember the word of the Lord Jesus Christ—'Take no thought, saying, What shall
we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed? for your Heavenly
Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things; but seek ye first the kingdom of
God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.' Walter, God will
more than make up to us for all that we may lose for His sake!"
"You'll never convince him! You'll never convince him!" cried Goldie, who, passing the
shop, had overheard the last words, and now stood leaning his stout person upon Viner's
little gate. "You can't persuade him but that I am growing rich, and that you are growing
poor; that I am getting on, you going back in the world. All your preaching won't shut his
eyes to that. Why, here am I able to send my son to a first-rate school, able (I grant that
it's a hard pull on my purse, but yet somehow I can manage it) to place him with an
engineer, where, with talents like his, he is pretty sure at last to make his fortune! I shall
see him one of these days riding in his own carriage, for I have let no idle fancies, no silly
superstition, prevent me from doing the best for my family, and that is the way to grow
rich."
"'The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow thereto,'" murmured
Nelly.
Viner turned and smiled on his daughter.
"I wonder that you don't think of your child," said Goldie, "if you don't care about starving
yourself."
"I do think of her," said the father earnestly, "and in obeying and trusting my God, I feel
that I am doing the best thing for her both in this world and the next."
"We shall see," said Goldie as he walked away.
"Yes, we shall see," repeated Viner quietly.
"Do you really think," asked Walter, as soon as the fruiterer was beyond hearing, "that God
would be angry with you just for selling upon Sunday when He knows that you are so
poor?"
"When a parent gives a command, is he content that it should be disobeyed? When a

friend makes a promise, is he content that it should not be believed? When a king passes a
law, is he content that it should be broken?"
"Ah! But this law may be easy for the rich, but it is so very, very hard for the poor!"
"Is it hard," replied Viner gently, "that we should give up something for Him who has given
us all? Let us remember the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He was rich, yet
for our sakes, He became poor! He was rich, indeed, for the Son of God sat on the throne
of heaven; He became poor indeed, for the Son of Man had not where to lay His head! 'He
was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin; and inasmuch as He suffered
being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted.' He knows—He feels for our
trials!"
"The faith of His early followers was far more severely tried than ours. They had to endure
not only want, but tortures, mockings, cruel deaths, for the sake of the Master whom they
loved. And do you think that any martyr at the stake then, or any saint on his death-bed
now, thought or thinks that he has done or given up too much for the Saviour who gave
His life for him?"
"Oh no!" exclaimed Nelly, "Never! Only think of the glory and the crown! It is better to
walk barefoot on a thorny way, and know that we will come to a kingdom at the end of our
journey, and be happy for ever and ever, than to roll along in a golden carriage, and to feel
that every minute brings us nearer and nearer to misery that never will end! We never can
be really happy but when we do God's will like the angels!"
"How do the angels do God's will?" said Viner.
The child paused a moment to think, then replied, "Faithfully, readily, joyfully."
"But the angels have not to suffer God's will as well as to do it," observed Walter.
"No," replied Viner, "in this, man alone has the honour of following the steps of his Lord!
We only are able, in this our short life, to imitate Him who in agony prayed, 'Not my will
but Thine be done!'"
Walter had nothing to answer; he remained silent, though scarcely convinced. The
convict's son could not feel the full force of the Scripture:
"What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and

lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
Nor knew he yet how much is comprised in the prayer:
"THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!"
CHAPTER V.
"Give us this day our daily bread."
I WILL now pass over a space of ten years, with all its joys and sorrows, its hopes and
fears, and take my reader once more to E—.
The village has grown into a town: tall rows of houses stretch along the coast, on one side
a square is commenced, and though "the season" is now nearly over, enough of life and
bustle remain to denote a flourishing watering-place. There is, however, little change to be
seen in the small humble dwelling of Viner, and almost as little alteration in the appearance
of its master, who, save a few more gray hairs, a few more furrows on his cheek, looks
much the same as when he appeared before us last. We shall, however, scarcely recognise
Nelly in the tall, delicate girl, who has almost grown into the young woman; or the
convict's son in the powerful youth, who still serves in the shop of his benefactor.
How has time passed with them during these long years? They seem to have made little
progress in the road to fortune—has the promise of the Lord been to them in vain? No;
though life has been a struggle with poverty and care, it has been a struggle cheered by
love and hope; the bread earned by virtuous industry has been so sweet, the sleep after
labour so calm; unkind words, peevish complaints have in that dwelling been unheard, the
peace of God rests like sunshine upon it!
I cannot, however, say that Walter's spirit never fretted against poverty, that he never
longed to place those whom he loved above all danger of want. He had learned much of
religion beneath Viner's roof; he had seen its power to comfort the soul under trials, but he
was yet young and impetuous in all his feelings, his faith was weak, his will unsubdued; in
life's school he had yet much to learn.
And never had his faith been more tried than now, for Nelly, without any apparent
complaint, seemed gradually losing all strength and colour, and looked like a flower fading
away. She had for some years taken in needlework, to eke out her father's scanty living;
she had worked early and late with cheerful industry, and perhaps overtasked her powers.
With deep anxiety, Viner and his adopted son watched her pale cheek and drooping form,
and the gentle smile which seemed to belong rather to heaven than to earth.
Viner consulted a doctor for his daughter, who shook his head, said that she had been
overworked and under-fed, and prescribed as necessary for her recovery nourishing food
and rest. Oh! How Walter longed for riches then—how Viner felt the cross of poverty lies
heaviest when those whom we love are in want!
The father laid his trial before his Lord; he earnestly prayed, with a child-like faith, for a
sufficiency of daily bread! He rose from his knees submissive and calm; he had placed his
sick child at the feet of his Saviour, and while he determined that no lawful means should
be left untried to increase her comforts, he rested his hopes upon Him who once said,
"According to thy faith be it unto thee."
But to Walter it was more difficult thus to pray and wait, to let patience have its perfect
work. Nor was it want of faith in God's promises alone that gave bitterness to the spirit of
the young man. One passion that struggled in his breast robbed him entirely of that inward
peace which lightened the burden of Viner. It was with feelings of mingled resentment and
envy that Walter regarded Ned Goldie, the fruiterer's son. From him, he had received,
when he first came to the village, that insult which still rankled in his mind, an insult
followed by many others; for Ned was reputed a wit in E—, and the cheapest way of
making people merry is by laughing at and ridiculing others. There was no end of Ned's
jests upon the convict's son, which amused for a moment, and were then forgotten by all
but him at whose expense they were made.
And Ned was in a position to raise some envy amongst those of his own class in life.
Singularly favoured by nature—handsome, intelligent, full of health and spirits—Ned was a
favourite with all. Often would he drop in to spend a half-hour at Viner's quiet home. Nelly
could not but own that he was a very pleasant companion; his playful words (in her
presence they were never ill-natured) often brought a smile to her pale face. Viner liked
and felt interested in the merry-hearted lad; to Walter alone his society was as wormwood
and gall.
Then it was known that Ned was to succeed to his father's prosperous business, as his
elder brothers were already provided for. Aleck had risen in the world even beyond his
father's hopes. Possessed of uncommon talents, he now shared his master's business; a
bridge that he had planned had made his name well-known, and he had just formed a
marriage, which had raised him at once to fortune, with the only daughter of a retired coal
merchant. The words of Goldie, spoken ten years before, had been verified, he had lived to
see his son have a carriage of his own!
Mat had been apprenticed to some business in London. It was noticed in the town that his
parents spoke less frequently of him, that inquiries after his prospects were answered
shortly by his father, and made his pale, sickly mother look sad. People could not forget his
unchecked habit of gambling, his profane language, his love of bad company: it was even
rumoured that he had got into some scrape in London, but nothing certain was known
upon the subject. This, and Mrs. Goldie's feeble state of health, seemed, however, the only
drawbacks upon the prosperity of the fruiterer; his increasing stoutness and the ruddiness
of his face told of comfort, good living, and an easy life.
It was at this period, when to win money for Nelly was almost the first desire of Walter's
heart, haunted his dreams by night, was his first thought on waking, that a thin old
gentleman, in a snuff-coloured coat, that looked a good deal the worse for wear,
flourishing in his hand a little carved stick, passed along the street of E—. He stopped
opposite Goldie's shop, and looked in, as if studying the prices on the fruit, then turned
round and glanced at Viner's humble window, hesitated, twisted his stick round and round,
and then chose the poorest and cheapest-looking shop.
He was the first visitor who had come that day, and unpromising a customer as he looked,
his entrance was a welcome sight to Walter, who was serving alone in the shop. The
youth's patience, however, was not a little tried, as, after a half-hour spent in questioning
and bargaining, and trying to beat down the price of what already scarcely yielded any
profit, the old gentleman departed with a bag of nuts, leaving one fourpenny piece on the
counter.
"He must be either terribly poor or terribly stingy," thought Walter. "His face looked as
sharp as the monkey's head carved upon his stick; that's a man, I'll answer for it, who will
never let himself be cheated out of a farthing!"
Walter busied himself in rearranging the fruit, which he had displaced to show to his
troublesome customer. His mind was full of painful reflections, and it was not for a little
time that he perceived that the old gentleman had left his pocket-book behind. It was an
old worn-looking article, that might be of the same date as the snuff-coloured coat; Walter
went to the gate to look out for its owner, but the gentleman was nowhere to be seen.
"Perhaps his name and address may be written inside," thought Walter; "I had better open
it and look."
He unclosed the book, and in the pocket found, indeed, a note directed to Mr. Sharp,
Marine Row; but there was something else that Walter found in that pocket, something on
which he fixed his gaze with a strange emotion, till his hand trembled and his heart beat
fast! It was a bank-note for £50 wrapped round some money! The pocket-book almost fell
from the grasp of the youth, a thought of Nelly and her poverty flashed across his mind;
here were riches before him, dare he touch them!
When the convict's son first came beneath Viner's roof, he would not have hesitated to
grasp the fortune placed within his reach, the strong temptation would at once have
mastered conscience! Walter would have rushed on the fatal career of the thief! But the
Spirit of God had touched his heart; weak, imperfect as his religion might be, at least it
was sincere and true. Walter dared not be guilty of the fatal error of presuming on God's
mercy by committing wilful sin; he dared not hazard his immortal soul for gold! Hastily, he
thrust the book into his bosom, colouring with shame, all alone as he was, at having
harboured for one moment the thought of theft. He unclosed the little door which led to
the parlour, asked Nelly to supply his place at the counter, then, without venturing one
look at her thin, pale face, lest the sight of it should shake his resolution, he took down his
hat from a peg in the wall, and hastened towards the lodging of the owner of the note.
"And is it possible that one who for the last ten years has lived, as it were, under the wing
of piety, could have felt—almost acted as a thief!" thought Walter, as he walked on with
rapid strides, more pained at having meditated a crime, than he once would have been to
have committed it. "And I have blushed for my unhappy father, have been ashamed at
bearing his name, have presumed to think that in his place my conduct would have been
better, have almost dared to condemn him in my secret soul! Had he had the advantages
with which I have been blessed, who can say that I might not have looked up to him now
as my guide and example through life! Oh! May God forgive me, forgive my pride and
hardness of heart, my foolish reliance on my own feeble strength, my cold forgetfulness of
my unhappy parent! And have mercy upon him, O gracious Lord! Watch over him, save
him, lead him back to Thyself, and grant that I may meet him, if not here below, yet in the
kingdom of our Father in heaven!"
The lodging of the old gentleman was at no great distance; it looked small, uncomfortable,
and mean. A slip-shop, untidy girl answered Walter's ring, and was desired by him to tell
her master that some one wished to speak with him upon business. While she shuffled up
the steep staircase, Walter's eye rested, at first unconsciously, upon the little curved stick
which Mr. Sharp had carried, and which was now placed upon nails in the hall.
"I think that I might cut out something like that," he said to himself, "I shall have plenty of
time in the long winter evenings; I wonder if an assortment of things carved in wood
would be likely to sell well in the season." The idea pleased him; there seemed to be an
opening for hope; he might yet, by the work of his hands, be enabled to gain some
comforts for Nelly!
From the top of the narrow staircase, the servant-girl called to him to step up. Walter
obeyed; and in a small, ill-lighted room, where dust lay thick on the table, and darkened
the panes, and the window-curtain looked as though it had never been white, Walter found
the sharp-featured old man. His look was restless and uneasy, an expression of mingled
hope, fear, and suspicion was in his eye, as he recognised the face of Walter Binning. That
expression changed to one of childish delight as the youth drew from his breast the well-
known pocket-book; the old man snatched it with feverish impatience from his hand,
opened it with fingers that trembled from eagerness, and not till he had examined and re-
examined its contents, looked at the note on this side and that, and counted the money
again and again, did he appear to have a thought to give to him whose honesty had
restored it.
"It's all right—quite right," he muttered at last, "two sovereigns, a half-crown—four and
six. You have behaved very well, young man, very well; will you accept—" the miser
hesitated, fumbled with money, seemed to find difficulty in making up his mind, and then,
as if quite with an effort, held out a sixpence to Walter!
The convict's son stepped back, a half-smile on his face, and, bowing to the miserable old
man, left the room with this reflection, "It is better to want money than the heart to spend
it."
And had Walter known more of Mr. Sharp, he would have been but strengthened in this
opinion.
The miser had begun life without a shilling, but possessed with one strong desire to grow
rich. He hoarded his small earnings till they became great, not from an honest wish to be
independent in old age, but from that love of money for its own sake which the Bible tells
us is the root of all evil. And now he had his desire—he was rich, he had money, he
possessed, but he did not enjoy it! Life was to him like the feast given by a queen of
ancient time, where not only the dishes, but all their contents, were of gold, and the
wondering guests rose unsatisfied and hungry from their magnificent repast!
Mr. Sharp almost grudged himself his necessary food; he could never ask a blessing on his
daily bread; his very soul seemed buried in his heaps of treasure. And now he was drawing
near to his grave, and that treasure must be left behind! No one loved him, no one would
mourn for his loss; he knew but too well that his money would be far more prized than
ever he himself had been. God had dealt with him as with the Israelites of old—He gave
them their desire, but sent leanness withal into their soul; and the man who possessed
wealth without a blessing was poor and miserable indeed!
So Walter gave back the pocket-book and its rich contents, and gained nothing at all by his
honesty?
Do you call it nothing to tread earth with a free, fearless step, to dread looking no man in
the face? Do you call it nothing to have a character unstained, to hear the voice of an
approving conscience, and to be able to ask in prayer for those blessings which we have
taken no guilty means to obtain?
The thoughts of Walter were full of new plans of industry, while he more slowly returned to
his home. As he approached the little gate of Viner's shop, some one came out of it into
the street, bidding a cheerful good-bye to those within. It was with a feeling of annoyance
that Walter saw the only being on earth whom he really disliked—Ned Goldie, the
fruiterer's son.
The youth nodded to him as they met, with a sort of free-and-easy, patronising air, which
was intolerable to Walter Binning.
"I am glad to find Nelly so much better to-day," said Ned.
"She does not look better to my eyes," replied Walter gloomily. "She seems daily weaker,
and it is my conviction—"
"Your conviction!" exclaimed Ned, with a loud burst of mirth. "Oh! I did not know that
things had come to that pass! I was aware that Viner had kept you ten years on your trial,
but never heard of your conviction till now!"
"Insolent boy!" cried Walter, clenching his hand, his blood mounting to his temples, his eye
flashing fire! Ned might have had reason to repent his idle jest, had not Viner, who had
overheard the words that passed, laid his hand firmly upon the arm of Walter, and drawn
him away within the gate.
"Would you be the slave to your passions?" he said in a low voice, "And show the world
that a Christian can neither bear nor forbear."
"I could forgive neglect," muttered Walter, "could forgive wrongs; but this contempt, this
scorn, this ridicule! I wonder," he exclaimed, almost indignantly, "that you, who value only
wisdom and virtue, can endure this trifling, silly, conceited—"
"Yet generous-hearted boy," said Viner, pointing to a fine hare that lay upon the counter.
"He has kind thought for others with all his faults, he know that nourishment was ordered
for my Nelly."
Walter started, and felt angry with himself that the sight of food so much needed should
give him an emotion of pain rather than of pleasure. But to Viner, who, even in the smaller
events of life, recognised the hand of an overruling Providence, the timely gift from the
kindness of an earthly friend seemed an answer sent to his earnest prayer:
"GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD!"

CHAPTER VI.
"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them
that trespass against us."
"NELLY, what are you thinking of—you look sad?" inquired Walter on the following morning,
which happened to be Sunday.
"I was thinking of you," she replied gravely.
"And was that a thought to give you pain?" said Walter, sitting down at her side, "Tell me,
Nelly, what were you thinking of me?"
"I am afraid—perhaps you would be vexed or angry—"
"Vexed I may be, but angry with you, never! Have I done anything to displease you?"
"It is not so much what you do, Walter, as what I fear that you feel. It seems to me—I
trust that I am wrong—but it seems to me that you almost hate Ned Goldie."
"It is natural that I should—he is always insulting me!"
"It is natural, Walter; but is it right? Father has so often told us that the adopted children
of God must struggle against and overcome their evil nature, must try, with God's help, to
gain a likeness to their Father—to be merciful as He is merciful, forgive as He forgives; if
we do not try this, with faith and with prayer, we have no right to think ourselves God's
children at all."
"Can you prove that from the Bible?" said Walter.
"I think that I can," replied Nelly, after a moment's thought. "It is written, 'If any man
have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not
of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.'"
"That last verse has brought another into my mind, Nelly, which has often given me a
feeling of uneasiness. It is from the same chapter, I believe. 'Whoso hateth his brother is a
murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.'"
"O Walter! You who know so well what is right, can you, in the face of such words, still
nourish hatred!"
"Nelly, I have no more power to love that boy than I have to move the cliffs into the sea!"
exclaimed Walter.
"Ask for power—ask in faith; remember the Lord's promise, 'By faith ye shall remove
mountains,'—'All things are possible to him that believeth.' O Walter!" continued Nelly,
speaking rapidly and earnestly, till the blood rose to her pallid cheek, "this is not a work to
be set aside or delayed; remember that until you forgive you cannot be forgiven, that as
long as you live in hate, you are living in danger, that your very prayer is turned against
yourself when you say, 'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against
us!'"
Walter leaned his brow upon his hand, and remained for some moments buried in thought;
then raising his head he said, "I believe that I might like Ned Goldie better if you and your
father liked him less; but to see you welcome and speak kindly to one who does not even
pretend to be religious, who is thoughtless, worldly, vain—"
"O Walter! Only think how he has been brought up! How could you expect him to be
otherwise!"
"He is certainly likely to learn little good at home."
"And would you have us drive him away when he comes in a spirit of kindliness to the
house of a man like my father, whose words and example may, by little and little, draw him
to better things."
"Perhaps you are right, Nelly," said Walter, with a sigh, "and I have not acted the part of a
Christian in either feeling or speaking as I have done. When I recall what I myself was—
what I am still—I take shame for my own harsh, uncharitable spirit. I will ask for help from
above, to struggle against this besetting sin."
"And pray for him too!" said Nelly earnestly. "We never are sure that we have forgiven our
enemies till we are able heartily to pray for them."
"I will," answered Walter with an effort.
"And you will forgive me for speaking so plainly to you, brother?" said the girl, holding out
her thin, wasted hand.
His reply was a silent press.
It was now time to attend church, and accompanied by Viner, they proceeded on their way
towards the house of God. On the road they met Ned, who was going down to the beach,
his back turned towards the place of worship. He stopped to wish Viner and his daughter
good morning, but took no notice whatever of the convict's son.
"Where are you going, Ned?" said Viner.
"Down to the boat," replied the youth. "I shall take a sail while the sunshine lasts, I have
not had one for the last three days."
"I wish that you would come with us to church," said Nelly, in her gentle persuasive tones.
"No, no! The morning service is so long—maybe I shall in the afternoon. Mind, I make no
rash promises," laughed the boy; "I am no great churchgoer, you know!"
"I wish that I could persuade you, Ned," said Viner gravely but kindly, "that the only way
to real happiness is to fear God and keep His commandments."
"Let me be happy in my own way for a while," cried Ned. "I dare say that I shall think like
you one of these days, when I am a sober, gray-headed old man."
"Life is uncertain," interrupted Viner.
"Therefore I'll enjoy it while I can!"
"And death—"
"Oh! I've time enough to think about that!" cried the youth, waving his hand as he sprang
down the shingle, so light and agile, so full of health, and strength and spirit, that it
seemed as though many years were indeed before him.
Walter fulfilled his promised to Nelly; he prayed fervently and humbly for the Spirit of
grace, that Spirit which God has promised to all who ask in faith—that Spirit whose fruits
are long-suffering and love. A peace seemed to come into his heart as he prayed, a peace
to which his soul had long been a stranger—he could think of his enemy without bitter
feeling, and even ask for a blessing upon him.
While the congregation were yet in the church, the violent rattling of the windows told of
the sudden coming on of a storm; and as soon as the door was opened at the close of the
service, the blast of cold air which swept in was so strong, that but for the help of her
father's arm, Nelly could scarcely have stood against it. The whole sky was covered with
dark leaden clouds, sweeping on rapidly one after another; the wind had swelled into a
gale, while the broad dashes of foam over the whole extent of waters, and the waves that
rolled on and broke upon the beach, flinging high in the air their showers of white spray,
showed the fury of the raging storm!
"I hope and trust that Ned Goldie is not on the sea!" exclaimed Nelly.
A crowd was collected on the shore, which was now increased by the greater part of the
late congregation. Every eye was strained in one direction, where a little boat was seen,
tossed like a nut-shell on the foaming waves, and many an exclamation of pity or of fear
burst from the anxious lookers-on.
"I'd not for a hundred guineas be in that boat!" said one. "He'll never get her into shore."
"I thought she'd have capsized then!" exclaimed another. "Why on earth does he not take
in the sail?"
"Isn't it Ned Goldie?" said Mrs. Winter, who, prayer-book in hand, stood one of the
foremost in the crowd. "He'd better have been listening in his place in church than taking
his Sunday pleasure, poor fellow!"
"Heaven have mercy upon him!" faltered Nelly, clasping her hands, and looking with terror
upon the little boat, which seemed half swallowed up amidst the swelling billows.
"It is he! It is my boy! Oh! Can no one save him?" shrieked the voice of his wretched
mother, as she stood with arms extended wildly towards him, the wind blowing back the
hair from her pale horror-stricken face—watching the boat that held the idol of her heart.
Another awful gust. The boy was seen in the boat, vainly trying to furl the fluttering,
struggling sail; then there was a cry heard even above the roaring storm.
"She's over! She's down! He's lost!" The mother lay senseless on the beach—her son was
struggling in the midst of the waves! "God have pity on him! He cannot swim!" cried Mrs.
Winter.
Nelly had closed her eyes in horror, a word from her father made her look round in new
fear.
"Is it not madness to attempt it?" said Viner.
Walter had stripped off his coat and waistcoat, and was preparing to plunge into the surf.
"O Walter!" exclaimed Nelly, stretching out her hand; but she dared not utter the entreaty
that rose to her lips—she dared not stop him in the course of duty.
"Pray for me!" whispered Walter. There was no time to say more—the next moment she
saw him battling with the waves.
Motionless as a statue the young girl stood, able to utter no word, but pouring out her
whole soul in fervent agonised prayer! Now a head and outspread arms were seen on the
waters, then were lost again, as a huge swelling billow rolled on, as though to sweep away
the swimmer, or bury him beneath its weight!
Nelly was like one in a terrible dream; she heard nothing of anything that passed around
her but the rush of the wind and the roar of the waves; she saw nothing but the wild
tossing waters, save when she caught a moment's glimpse of Walter. Happy was it for
Ned's wretched mother that she was beyond reach of either hearing or seeing!
When Mrs. Goldie recovered from her swoon, she found herself in the nearest house, which
happened to be that of the baker. Her wild passionate inquiries received no reply but looks
of sorrow and pity; and unable to endure the terrible suspense, the poor woman sprang
from the bed on which she had been laid, and in the strength of her despair,
notwithstanding every effort to detain her, rushed back to the spot where the sight of an
assembled crowd directed her impetuous steps.
Alas! For the sight that awaited her. Viner was kneeling upon the shingle, supporting on his
bosom the head of a youth, into whose colourless lips he was pouring some spirits, and
Nelly, at his side, with trembling eagerness, was watching the signs of returning animation.
Mrs. Goldie gave one wild, searching look, and passed on—the face was not that of her
son. A little farther on lay a corpse, in which life had for some time been extinct. Stiff and
cold he was stretched in death, the young, the beautiful, the strong—oh! How changed! In
vain every method to restore him had been tried—the heart and the pulse had ceased to
beat, the sparkling eye was glazed, the laughing lip silent; in the midst of his pleasures,
his follies, his sins, Ned Goldie's spirit had been summoned to appear before his Maker!
We will dwell no longer upon a scene so sad—no words can paint the anguish of the
desolate mother! We will rather reflect upon the comfort which it was to Walter, when
following the poor youth's remains to the grave, to feel that Heaven had enabled him to
triumph over his better feelings, and even to hazard his life for the sake of one whom he
had once regarded with hate. His efforts to save Ned had been in vain, he had only
succeeded in dragging the body to the shore; but he had done all that it was in his power
to do; he had treated an enemy as he would have treated a brother; and he no longer felt
self-condemned by his own words when he prayed:
"FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THEM

THAT TRESPASS AGAINST US."
CHAPTER VII.
"Lead us not into temptation."
E— was now becoming completely emptied of visitors. Every lodging put up its hopeless
label—"To let"—in the reading-room no one thought it worth while to attend; the shore was
left to the fishermen, and scarcely a bonnet was seen in the streets!
Walter worked busily and well at his new occupation. He had really a taste for carving, and
every article that he made was an improvement upon the last. It was a great pleasure to
him to hear Nelly admire his elegant sticks and beautiful boxes, and suggest little
alterations and amendments.
But still there could be no sale for anything that he made until the season when visitors
should return, and with the long dreary winter and bleak spring before him, Walter began
seriously to consider whether he should not leave E—, and seek for employment
elsewhere. In vain he tried to persuade himself that he was wanted in the shop; Viner's
business was so small that he could well manage it himself. The scanty gains were hardly
sufficient for the bare support of three; were Walter in another situation, he might increase
the little store.
Very dear had his quiet home become to Villa's adopted son, he could hardly bear to leave
it; and as he found by inquiry that there was little hope of obtaining employment near E—,
he knew that to seek it, he must go to some distance, and be separated, perhaps for many
years, from those whom he most loved upon earth.
The thought of this lay like a weight upon his heart, and often made him sigh heavily as he
sat at his work. As yet he had not spoken on the subject either to Viner or Nelly, but he
knew that the time was come when it would be necessary for him to do so.
Three days after the funeral of poor Ned, Mrs. Winter entered the little gate; Viner was
alone in the shop at the time, but the sound of her voice drew Nelly and Walter from the
parlour, where they had both been engaged in their work. "You have just come from our
poor neighbour's," said Viner. "How is Mrs. Goldie this morning?"
"Oh! Poor soul, I have scarcely left her since that terrible day! She's breaking, she's
breaking fast—she will never hold up her head again!"
"Oh! Hers has been indeed a heavy trial!" murmured Nelly.
"Most heavy," said her neighbour, "and she's quite sinking under it. I've known mothers in
sorrow for their children before now, but never in sorrow like hers! There are many who
receive deep wounds in the heart, but its sin that puts poison on the edge! This poor
creature is always reproaching herself, always weeping over the wrong that she did to her
child, though I am sure that she was but too fond a mother."
"'Oh! Had I known that his days were to be so few,' she cries; and then bursts into an
agony of grief, and refuses to receive any comfort."
"Oh! Do you not speak to her of the Saviour?" cried Nelly.
"I have spoken, and our worthy clergyman has spoken; for, strange enough, Goldie sent
for him. But it seems as if religion rather added to her pain; for when she hears of the
mercy and goodness of God, she sobs out, 'Why did my poor boy never know Him!'"
"And Goldie," said Viner, "how does he bear up?"
"He looks much as usual, perhaps a little thinner; but he does not give way like his wife. I
think that his heart is hardened by selfishness; and yet it has its warm corner too. He
certainly has done a great deal for his children, has given them all that he could, except
the best thing of all!"
"I am sure that he must feel this blow," said Nelly.
"He neither speaks about Ned, nor will hear others speak; he cannot bear his wife's grief,
so keeps out of her way; he scarcely sees her from morning till night—she'll not trouble
him long, poor thing!"
"I had trusted that affliction would have drawn him near to God," said Viner.
Mrs. Winter shook her head. "People may talk about great changes," she said, "but depend
upon it, when a man has gone on for sixty years thinking of nothing but getting on in the
world, it's as easy to raise the dead as to make him turn to religion! We know that there
have been miracles, but we do not dare to expect them; and it would have been a miracle
indeed had that man's heart been raised from the world! I fancy that Goldie has more
trouble in his family before him, at least if it is true what is said about Mat. After the way
in which he has brought up his sons, he must expect to reap as he has sowed."
Viner never encouraged gossip, therefore asked his neighbour no question that might lead
her to continue the subject. She turned suddenly towards Walter and said, "I'm forgetting
the thing that I came for—I bring you a message from Goldie. I think that he feels grateful
—at least as grateful as such a man can feel—for your attempt to save his poor boy. He
wishes you to stop over and see him; I hope that he is going to do something good for
you, Walter."
The shutters of Goldie's shop, which had been put up before the funeral, had been again
taken down, and except that one bright young face was seen there no more, the place
looked much as usual. Walter found Goldie in the back parlour—his poor wife had never
left her bed. Of how much comfort and ease that parlour told, with its nice furniture,
carpet, little mirror above the mantelpiece, and framed portraits of the three sons hung on
the wall! Yet to Walter's eye there was something deeply sad in the place, where comfort
might be, but happiness was not.
Goldie received the youth kindly. Whatever remembrances the sight of Walter must have
brought to the mind of the bereaved father, he showed little emotion on meeting, his voice
might be somewhat tremulous, that was all—there were no tears nor signs of deep sorrow.
"I owe you something, Binning," he said, holding out his hand, "and I am not the man to
forget it. You must be making a poor thing of it at Viner's, I should say—perhaps you are
beginning to look at for something better?"
He stopped, as if for an answer; Walter made no reply, but listened eagerly to what was to
follow.
"Mine is a large business," said Goldie, a little proudly, "and besides that, I have a house
and lodgings to let, as you know, at the other end of the town. I shall want assistance in
the shop, especially now that Mrs. Goldie is ill, and—" he paused, for he would not allude
to the son whom he had lost—"and I should be happy, Binning, to take you in, with a
handsome salary now, and a prospect of future partnership if we find that we suit one
another."
The heart of Walter leaped with delight! The prospect of comfort, independence, without
separation from his friends, seemed so much more than he had ever dared to hope, that
his first feeling was one of unmixed joy! The second, however, was of difficulty and doubt,
and Goldie read it in the changing expression of his face.
"Well, what do you say to it?" cried the fruiterer rather impatiently. "Is not my offer a fair
one?"
"Most kind, most generous, and I shall accept it with gratitude, if I may only be assured
that in serving the shop I shall never be required to do anything against my conscience."
"Your conscience! Oh! That is some of Viner's cant—that won't do with me," cried Goldie.
"If you live with me, you must do as I do, and have none of your nonsense about Sunday.
You had better understand that clearly from the first, and put your conscience in your
pocket, like a sensible man."
"Then I'm afraid—"
"Don't make a foolish decision in a hurry, that you will be sorry for all your life. There's a
customer just come in, I see, I must go to the shop to attend to him. Remain here, and
think over the offer that I have made; you'll never have such another chance of getting on
well in the world."
Walter sat alone in Goldie's back parlour, buried in deep anxious thought, drawn in
opposite directions by two strong powers—duty on one side, inclination on the other. There
were so many reasons for accepting Goldie's kindness: he would be independent, he could
help his friends, he would see them every day—perhaps he might even do some spiritual
good in the house of this irreligious man. But to all this conscience had but one answer. If
he who asks the Almighty to lead him not into temptation, wilfully, with his eyes open,
throws himself into it, how dare he hope for the protection of Heaven?
Should he deliberately agree to disregard God's commandment, how could he ask or

expect that a blessing should attend him? Nelly's favourite text seemed to ring in his ears
—"The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow thereto."
When Goldie returned from his customer, he found Walter with his mind quite made up.
Gratefully, but firmly, the youth declined his offer, and Viner's adopted son returned to his
humble home, not, perhaps, without some feeling of regret, but with a comfortable
consciousness in his mind that, however foolish man might think his decision, he had acted
wisely in the sight of Heaven.
And let me pause one moment to entreat my reader, before he takes any important step in
life, thus to make conscience his first counsellor and friend. Providence may place us in
situations of temptation, and then we have every encouragement to struggle on bravely,
putting our trust in the promised aid of Him who is able to make us more than conquerors.
But let us beware how we place ourselves in such, confiding in our own power to resist
evil.
"Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall;" let him avoid the place and the
society that may draw him into sin; and never forget that the prayer put into the mouths
of all by One who knew our weakness and our proneness to err, was:
"LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION."
CHAPTER VIII.
"Deliver us from evil."
"THE very sight of his handwriting makes me feel uneasy," thought Goldie, as the postman
placed in his hand a letter, bearing the London post-mark. He walked into his parlour, and
broke open the seal, and with many an expression of annoyance, and even anger, read the
contents of the letter.
"Why, this is worse than I even feared! Evil tidings indeed! That boy seems to have been
born to be the torment of my life! What a world this is—full of vexations and troubles! Here
am I, who have been labouring all my life for my children, doing all, sparing nothing,
making every effort; and just when I hoped that I should have some comfort at last, one
of them is taken away, and the other—worse! Well," continued he, violently ringing the
bell, "something must be done, and at once. Aleck is prosperous and rich, that is one good
thing, he will do something; I must see him directly. There is no use in showing this letter
to my wife, she is fretting herself to death already."
The servant-girl hurriedly answered the bell.

"Bring my boots and great-coat," said Goldie, "and tell your mistress that I'm called away
on business, and may not be back till to-night or to-morrow morning. I think I'll sleep at
Aleck's," he continued, speaking to himself. "The nights are so bitterly cold at this season,
and I've no mind to get an attack of rheumatism."
With a heavy heart the fruiterer took his place in the railway train that was about to start
for Brighton. It was a bleak November day, and the dull prospect and the chill biting wind
seemed quite in harmony with his feelings. When the Christian suffers, he can look to
Heaven, and comfort himself with the thought that his portion is not here; but when the
worldly man loses earthly joy, he is losing his all, his only treasure, he has nothing to hope
for beyond! The only comfort to Goldie's mind in his distress was the prosperity of Aleck,
his favourite son; and even in the midst of his sorrow for the two others, it was a proud
feeling to the father that he was going for the first time to see him settled in a home of his
own, a wealthy man, a distinguished man, one who could help to raise the whole family.
Goldie took a conveyance from the station, he had never yet been to his son's house in
Brighton, and, indeed, was a stranger to the whole place, as he had rarely quitted his shop
in E—. As he stopped at the door of a comfortable-looking dwelling, a carriage containing a
lady drove off; he had but a glimpse of her face in a fine bonnet, whose crape flowers and
shining bugles seemed expressly designed to make mourning look as lively as possible; he
knew her to be the wife of his son, and not a little proud the fruiterer felt to be able to call
such a fine lady his daughter.
Goldie's loud knock at the door was answered by a servant in livery. Even the painful
errand upon which the father had come could not prevent his exulting in the idea of
grandeur so new to him! He would have passed in at once, as into his own shop, but the
footman stood in the doorway, eyeing him saucily from head to foot.
"Is your master at home?" said Goldie, trying to push forwards into the hall.
"Not at home," replied the man, half-closing the door.
"Then I'll wait till he comes in. I must see him. Where has he gone?"
"You can't see him; he sees no one, he's expecting his hairdresser."
"His hairdresser!" exclaimed Goldie. "But I am his father!" And pushing the astonished
footman aside, he entered the house, and was at once guided by the sound of a well-
known whistled air to the room in which Aleck was seated.
"Is that you, de la Rue? Why—how—can it be!" exclaimed the young man, rising in
surprise on the sudden entrance of his father. He had not been him since the death of poor
Ned, and scarcely knew in what manner to meet him.
"You did not think to see me here," said Goldie, grasping his hand; "but I have come upon
business, urgent business, Aleck. Sit down, my dear boy, I will let you know all. I could not
rest till I had consulted with you."
Aleck throw himself down again on his luxurious arm-chair, with an uncomfortable
persuasion that something disagreeable was coming, us his father drew from the pocket of
his coat a letter, which he knew to be in the handwriting of his brother.
"That will tell its own tale," said Goldie, handing it with a sigh to his son.
Frowning and biting his lip, Aleck read the letter to himself "This is bad indeed—very bad,"
he said, as he handed it back to his father. "What an unreasonable sum he requires—he

Negotiating Internet Governance Roxana Radu Full Chapter

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Negotiating Internet Governance

The global governance of the Internet is an ongoing, complex, contested, and

Negotiating Internet Governance follows directly from my doctoral disserta-

2. Deconstructing Internet Governance: A Framework for Analysis 15

xii Table of Contents

4. Privatization and Globalization of the Internet 75

5. The WSIS Decade and the Public–​Private Partnership Thirst 113

7. Conclusion: Reflections on a Global Issue Domain 191

ACM Association for Computing Machinery

xvi List of Abbreviations

xviii List of Abbreviations

On the Internet, everything we love and everything we hate has a name. It

Navigating Global Governance

Internet Governance under the Magnifying Glass

Global Governance—​The Enactment Thesis

Research Focus, Central Question, and Argument

Structure of the Book

At the core of governance debates is the conceptualization of power, diffused

16 Deconstructing Internet Governance

Global Governance Repertoires and the Internet

18 Deconstructing Internet Governance

20 Deconstructing Internet Governance

State and Private Authority

22 Deconstructing Internet Governance

24 Deconstructing Internet Governance

"Sands made no reply, and walked back in silence."

"And did Sands read it?" inquired Walter.

"And was your father obliged to leave his situation?"

"'I should like to see your mother,' he said to the boy."

"And your father, I suppose, kept his situation after all?"

"THY KINGDOM COME!"

Walter nodded assent.

"I can't tell," replied Walter, still rather surlily.

"I believe that the Almighty is able."

"But you doubt that He is willing?"

Walter was silent.

Viner turned and smiled on his daughter.

"We shall see," said Goldie as he walked away.

"Yes, we shall see," repeated Viner quietly.

"When a parent gives a command, is he content that it should be disobeyed? When a

"How do the angels do God's will?" said Viner.

"What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and

Nor knew he yet how much is comprised in the prayer:

"THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!"

"I am glad to find Nelly so much better to-day," said Ned.

"GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD!"

"I was thinking of you," she replied gravely.

"I am afraid—perhaps you would be vexed or angry—"

"It is natural that I should—he is always insulting me!"

"Can you prove that from the Bible?" said Walter.

"He is certainly likely to learn little good at home."

"I will," answered Walter with an effort.

His reply was a silent press.

"Where are you going, Ned?" said Viner.

"Life is uncertain," interrupted Viner.

"Therefore I'll enjoy it while I can!"

"Is it not madness to attempt it?" said Viner.

"FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THEM

"Oh! Hers has been indeed a heavy trial!" murmured Nelly.

"Oh! Do you not speak to her of the Saviour?" cried Nelly.

"And Goldie," said Viner, "how does he bear up?"

"I am sure that he must feel this blow," said Nelly.

"Then I'm afraid—"

5. The WSIS Decade and the Public–Private Partnership Thirst 113

Global Governance—The Enactment Thesis