Prometheus Wired: The Hope for Democracy in the Age of Network Technology - Hardcover

Barney, Darin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0774807962 ISBN 13: 9780774807968

Publisher: UBC Press, 2000

Synopsis

From all sides, we hear that computer technology, with its undeniable power to disseminate information and connect individuals, holds enormous potential for a reinvigoration of political life. But will the Internet really spark a democratic revolution? And will the changes it brings be so profound that past political thought will be of little use in helping us to understand them? In Prometheus Wired, Darin Barney debunks claims that a networked society will provide the infrastructure for a political revolution and shows that the resources we need for understanding and making sound judgments about this new technology are surprisingly close at hand. By looking to thinkers who grappled with the relationship of society and technology, such as Plato, Aristotle, Marx, and Heidegger, Barney critically examines such assertions about the character of digital networks. Along the way, Barney offers an eye-opening history of digital networks and then explores a wide range of contemporary issues, such as electronic commerce, telecommuting, privacy, virtual community, digital surveillance, and the possibility of sovereign governance in an age of global networks. Ultimately, Barney argues that instead of placing power back in the hands of the public, a networked economy seems to exacerbate the worst features of industrial capitalism, and, in terms of the surveillance and control it exerts, reduces our political freedom. Of vital interest to politicians, communicators, and anyone concerned about the future of democracy in the digital age, Prometheus Wired adds a provocative new voice to the debate swirling around "the Net" and the ways in which it will, or will not, change our political lives.

About this title

Review:

This is a welcome and provocative addition to the growing literature on the politics of the Internet. In addition to its rich intellectual texture and mother-lode of information about computer hard- and software, it is a quick read because the author has a sharpe tongue and makes excellent points. -- Ted Becker * American Political Science Review * The book presents an originality that is refreshing. Few authors have analysed information technology from the "meta-perspective" of Barney. While reading the book I spontaneously felt "this is a book that concerns everyone." Ideally, the text should be recommended to all students involved in economic, technical and philosophical disciplines. Prometheus Wired is superbly written and thought provoking. -- Fabian von Scheele * Telecommunications Policy *

Synopsis:

Two claims have accompanied the emergence of digital computer networks as the definitive technology of late modernity. The first is that networks are the infrastructure of a democratic revolution that will fundamentally alter the terms of political life in any society where this technology presides. The second is that our existing and traditional reservoir of political thought offers few resources for thinking about and understanding the technology and the transformation it promises. In "Prometheus Wired", Darin Barney rejects the second claim in order to investigate the first more fully. Barney maintains that the tradition of political thought provides us with considerable resources for specifying what is at stake in the politics of network technology. Drawing on five thinkers - Plato, Aristotle, Karl Marx, Martin Heidegger and George Grant - who have devoted attention to the relationship between technology and politics, he investigates the claims regarding the inherently revolutionary and democratic character of digital networks.

Along the way, he provides fascinating insights into a wide range of issues including the digital economy, telework, electronic commerce, digital surveillance, privacy, community networks, teledemocracy and national sovereignty.

About this edition

• Publisher: UBC Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0774807962
• ISBN 13: 9780774807968
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 350