1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910219863003321

Autore

Smith Trevor Garrison

Titolo

Politicizing digital space [[electronic resource] ] : theory, the internet, and renewing democracy / / Trevor Garrison Smith

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London, England : , : University of Westminster Press, , 2017

©2017

ISBN

1-911534-41-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (vi, 147 pages) : illustrations; digital, PDF file(s)

Collana

CDSMS

Disciplina

320.02854678

Soggetti

Information technology - Political aspects

Information society - Political aspects

Internet in political campaigns

Digital media - Political aspects

Political participation

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

1. Introduction --2. The political realm --3. Subjectivity --4. Participation --5. Conflict --6. Steps toward the digitization of politics --Notes --References --Index.

Sommario/riassunto

The objective of this book is to outline how a radically democratic politics can be reinvigorated in theory and practice through the use of the internet. The author argues that politics in its proper sense can be distinguished from anti-politics by analyzing the configuration of public space, subjectivity, participation, and conflict. Each of these terrains can be configured in a more or less political manner, though the contemporary status quo heavily skews them towards anti-political configuration. Using this understanding of what exactly politics entails, this book considers how the internet can both help and hinder efforts to move each area in a more political direction. By explicitly interpreting contemporary theories of the political in terms of the internet, this analysis avoids the twin traps of both technological determinism and technological cynicism. Raising awareness of what the word ‘politics’ means, the author develops theoretical work by Arendt, Rancière, Žižek and Mouffe to present a clear and coherent view of how



in theory, politics can be digitized and alternatively how the internet can be deployed in the service of truly democratic politics.