Media Backends: Digital Infrastructures and Sociotechnical Relations (Geopolitics of Information)

Lisa Parks,Jonathan Cohn,Julia Velkova,Sander de Ridder,Mark Andrejevic,Zala Volcic,Fatima Gaw,Tim Markham,Vicki Mayer,Vibodh Parthasarathi,Philippe Bouquillion,Christine Ithurbide,Anne Kaun,Alexis Logsdon,Philipp Seuferling,Fredrik Stiernstedt,Faithe Day,Amanda Lagerkvist,Jacek Smolicki,Matilda Tudor,Stine Lomborg,Ranjit Singh,Kaarina Nikunen,Rahul Mukherjee

ISBN 10: 0252087461 / ISBN 13: 9780252087462

Published by University of Illinois Press 2023-12-05, 2023

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 6666-GRD-9780252087462

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Media Backends: Digital Infrastructures and Sociotechnical Relations (Geopolitics of Information)
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press 2023-12-05
• Publication Date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0252087461
• ISBN 13: 9780252087462
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Exploring how we make, distribute, and consume today’s media systems

Media backends--the electronics, labor, and operations behind our screens--significantly influence our understanding of the sociotechnical relations, economies, and operations of media. Lisa Parks, Julia Velkova, and Sander De Ridder assemble essays that delve into the evolving politics of the media infrastructural landscape. Throughout, the contributors draw on feminist, queer, and intersectional criticism to engage with infrastructural and industrial issues. This focus reflects a concern about the systemic inequalities that emerge when tech companies and designers fail to address workplace discrimination and algorithmic violence and exclusions. Moving from smart phones to smart dust, the essayists examine topics like artificial intelligence, human-machine communication, and links between digital infrastructures and public service media alongside investigations into the algorithmic backends at Netflix and Spotify, Google’s hyperscale data centers, and video-on-demand services in India.

A fascinating foray into an expanding landscape of media studies, Media Backends illuminates the behind-the-screen processes influencing our digital lives. 

Contributors: Mark Andrejevic, Philippe Bouquillion, Jonathan Cohn, Faithe J. Day, Sander De Ridder, Fatima Gaw, Christine Ithurbide, Anne Kaun, Amanda Lagerkvist, Alexis Logsdon, Stine Lomborg, Tim Markham, Vicki Mayer, Rahul Mukherjee, Kaarina Nikunen, Lisa Parks, Vibodh Parthasarathi, Philipp Seuferling, Ranjit Singh, Jacek Smolicki, Fredrik Stiernstedt, Matilda Tudor, Julia Velkova, and Zala Volcic

About the Author

Lisa Parks is distinguished professor of film and media studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara and directs the Global Media Technologies and Cultures Lab. Julia Velkova is an associate professor of media and communications and of technology and social change at Linköping University. Sander De Ridder is an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Antwerp.