| Summary: | Part of a special section on technology and international policy in the information age. The writer considers the political economy of the restructuring of South Africa's telecommunications sector. He applies an analytical framework to the South African political economy called the Global Innovation-Mediated Paradigm Shift (GIMPS). Using the five elements of GIMPS—production profile, intermediate association, state structure, economic ideology, and international system—he analyzes a range of international and domestic variables to ascertain their relative impact on the historical process of South Africa's telecommunications sector restructuring. His findings relate to the historic and contemporary socioeconomic impact of information and communication technologies in South Africa; the nature of globalization and its effect on state authority; and the effect of globalization on political and economic groupings. Details of his findings are provided.
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