We now live in a digital society. New digital technologies have had a profound influence on everyday life, social relations, government, commerce, the economy and the production and dissemination of knowledge. People’s movements in space, their purchasing habits and their online communication with others are now monitored in detail by digital technologies. We are increasingly becoming digital data subjects, whether we like it or not, and whether we choose this or not.
The sub-discipline of digital sociology provides a means by which the impact, development and use of these technologies and their incorporation into social worlds, social institutions and concepts of selfhood and embodiment may be investigated, analysed and understood. This book introduces a range of interesting social, cultural and political dimensions of digital society and discusses some of the important debates occurring in research and scholarship on these aspects. It covers the new knowledge economy and big data, reconceptualising research in the digital era, the digitisation of higher education, the diversity of digital use, digital politics and citizen digital engagement, the politics of surveillance, privacy issues, the contribution of digital devices to embodiment and concepts of selfhood and many other topics.
Digital Sociology is essential reading not only for students and academics in sociology, anthropology, media and communication, digital cultures, digital humanities, internet studies, science and technology studies, cultural geography and social computing, but for other readers interested in the social impact of digital technologies.
1. Introduction: Life is digital 2. Theorising Digital Society 3. Reconceptualising Research in the Digital Era 4. The Digitised Academic 5. A Critical Sociology of Big Data 6. The Diversity of Digital Technology Use 7. Digital Politics and Citizen Digital Public Engagement 8. The Digitised Body/Self 9. Conclusion
Biography
Deborah Lupton is Centenary Research Professor in the News and Media Research Centre, Faculty of Arts & Design, University of Canberra
"Anyone with an interest in the future of sociology should read this book. In its pages Deborah Lupton provides an informative and vibrant account of a series of digital transformations and explores what these might mean for sociological work. Digital Sociology deals with the very practice and purpose of sociology. In short, this is a road-map for a version of sociology that responds directly to a changing social world. My suspicion is that by the end of the book you will almost certainly have become a digital sociologist." - Dr David Beer, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of York, UK
"This excellent book makes a compelling case for the continuing relevance of academic sociology in a world marked by "big data" and digital transformations of various sort. The book demonstrates that rather than losing jurisdiction over the study of the 'social' a plethora of recent inventive conceptual, methodological and substantive developments in the discipline provide the raw material for a radical reworking of the craft of sociology. As such it deserves the widest readership possible." - Professor Roger Burrows, Department of Sociology, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
"With a clear and engaging style, this book explores the breadth and depth of ongoing digital transformations to data, academic practice and everyday life. Ranging impressively across these often far too disparate fields, Lupton positions sociological thinking as key to our understanding of the digital world." - Susan Halford, Professor of Sociology, University of Southampton, UK
"Lupton’s compelling exploration of the centrality of the digital to everyday life reveals diversity and nuance in the ways digital technologies empower and constrain actions and citizenship. This excellent book offers researchers a rich resource to contextualize theories and practices for studying today’s society, and advances critical scholarship on digital life." - Catherine Middleton, Canada Research Chair in Communication Technologies in the Information Society, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
