The Price of Order

Abstract: This PhD thesis explores the formation of the International Telegraph Union (ITU) in 1865 and its relation to telegraph tariffs in mid-19th century Europe. Taking into consideration media-technological, economical and political aspects of the telegraph, the thesis uses a variety of sources from diplomatic archives to a purpose-made database of telegraph agreements, and combines qualitative and quantitative methods.

After shedding light on the political origins of international regulation, it turns to the specifics of the regulatory system. There, it explains how the telegraph’s features reflected in service pricing, and details different tariff structures and price developments. The price system of international telegraphy is presented as a vehicle of a global order of telegraphic communication, defined by rules and regulations of inherently political nature.

Today, the ITU has become the International Telecommunication Union, it is the oldest international organization in the UN system and it increasingly deals with the regulation of the Internet. Providing historical background to current debates, the thesis suggests that regulation of communications must be judged against the order of knowledge which comes about under its conditions.

Reference: Aznavour, Kars. “The Price of Order: Technology, Diplomacy and the Formation of the International Telegraph Union (ITU)”. PhD thesis, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, 2014.