1st Edition
Internet and Society Social Theory in the Information Age
In this exceptional study, Christian Fuchs discusses how the internet has transformed the lives of human beings and social relationships in contemporary society. By outlining a social theory of the internet and the information society, he demonstrates how the ecological, economic, political, and cultural systems of contemporary society have been transformed by new ICTs. Fuchs highlights how new forms of cooperation and competition are advanced and supported by the internet in subsystems of society and also discusses opportunities and risks of the information society.
1. Introduction: Studying Internet & Society
2. The Concept of Self-Organization
3. The Self-Organization of Society
4. In Which Society Do We Live?
5. The Self-Organization of The Internet
6. Self-Organization and the Informational Ecology
7. Self-Organization and the Virtual Economy
8. Self-Organization and Digital Democracy
9. Self-Organization and Cyberprotest
10. Self-Organization and Cyberculture
11. Towards a Global Sustainable Information Society?
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Biography
Christian Fuchs is professor and chair for media and communication studies at Uppsala University's Department of Informatics and Media Studies. He is also board member of the Unified Theory of Information Research Group (Austria) and editor of tripleC (cognition, communication, co-operation): Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society. He is author of many publications in the fields ICTs & society, media & society, information society studies, and critical theory.
"I think that is is a relief to read a young academic who refers to Marx and Engels...I really recommend this book and hope that also some politicians are going to read it, so we can have a more cooperative and less competitive future."
Jesper Toekke, Cybernetics & Human Knowing, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2008
"Fuchs's approach to social theory is reminiscent of Jürgen Habermas's in more than one way. ... Fuchs provides a thoughtful analysis that not only engages the most prominent literature but also produces a clear voice which cuts through many of the clichés regarding the information society."
Eran Fisher, Journal of Communication 59 (4)
"Without building critical tools described in this book, the moment for positive social and political change may indeed turn dystopian, as the opportunity evaporates to conceptualize society as cooperative systems of interactions."
Marcus Breen, International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics 5 (3)
