Bookshelf
| can't find it |

| browse books |
books
 

| book details |

Virtual Communities: Bowling Alone, Online Together

By (author) Felicia Wu Song

| on special |

normal price: R 3,492.95

Price: R 3,143.95


| book description |

Does contemporary Internet technology strengthen civic engagement and democratic practice? The recent surge in online community participation has become a cultural phenomenon enmeshed in ongoing debates about the health of American civil society. But observations about online communities often concentrate on ascertaining the true nature of community and democracy, typically rehearsing familiar communitarian and liberal perspectives. This book seeks to understand the technology on its own terms, focusing on how the technological and organizational configurations of online communities frame our contemporary beliefs and assumptions about community and the individual. It analyzes key structural features of thirty award-winning online community websites to show that while the values of individual autonomy, egalitarianism, and freedom of speech dominate the discursive content of these communities, the practical realities of online life are clearly marked by exclusivity and the demands of commercialization and corporate surveillance. Promises of social empowerment are framed within consumer and therapeutic frameworks that undermine their democratic efficacy. As a result, online communities fail to revolutionize the civic landscape because they create cultures of membership that epitomize the commodification of community and public life altogether.

| product details |



Normally shipped | This title will be printed on demand for your order. Delivery will be 6 weeks or less.
Publisher | Peter Lang Publishing Inc
Published date | 11 Aug 2009
Language |
Format | Hardback
Pages | 178
Dimensions | 230 x 160 x 0mm (L x W x H)
Weight | 480g
ISBN | 978-1-4331-0396-4
Readership Age |
BISAC | social science / sociology / general


| other options |



Normally shipped | Usually dispatched in 3 to 4 weeks as supplier is out of stock
Readership Age |
Normal Price | R 5,678.95
Price | R 5,110.95 | on special |



| your trolley |

To view the items in your trolley please sign in.

| sign in |

| specials |

The Ballerina and the Bull: Anarchist Utopias in the Age of Finance

Johanna Isaacson
Paperback / softback
288 pages
was: R 321.95
now: R 289.95
This title will take longer to obtain, and should be delivered in 6-8 weeks

Our moment has seen the resurgence of an anarchist sensibility, from the uprisings in Seattle in 1999 to the Occupy movement of 2011.

The Memory Collectors: A Novel

Dete Meserve
Paperback / softback
320 pages


Enquiries only


Fifteen Dogs

André Alexis
Paperback / softback
176 pages
was: R 315.95
now: R 283.95
Available from overseas. Dispatched in aprox 4-8 weeks as local supplier is out of stock

A pack of dogs are granted the power of human thought - but what will it do to them? A surprising and insightful look at the beauty and perils of consciousness.