Session Description: Political processes are often assumed to occur within bounded spaces. For example a gubernatorial race is assumed to "take place" within the boundaries of a particular state or a presidential race is assumed to occur within the boundaries of a particular country. But with the increasing use of the Internet for informal and day-to-day forms of communication, new noncontiguous spaces of political discourse are created. These discursive spaces move in and around political contests and spill over mappable borders to define diverse networks and boundaries. Blogs, discussion forums, chat rooms, and Internet news websites are among the online "places" where political discussions and debates are occurring with increasing frequency, but as such their geographies complicate the political process in ways that have yet to be explained.
