Reshaping Communications
Technology, Information and Social Change
First Edition
Paschal Preston
- Dublin City University, Ireland
Purchase
eBook
ISBN:
9781847876669
Available from
January 0001
Hardcover
ISBN:
9780803985629
Available from
January 0001
Description
Thirty years ago, one writer complained that 'to admire technology is all out of fashion'. Today excited claims are made for the impact that these technologies are having on social, political and economic life. But how are we to assess these claims? This book critically interrogates many of the prevailing ideas offers a fresh perspective on this new `digital age'.
Reshaping Communications:
- Provides an alternative and more grounded account of the complex interplay between new technology and information structures and changes in society
- Illuminates the fundamental continuities as well as changes in socioeconomic and political processes
-Draws on an interdisciplinary perspective and original empirical research.
The book will be essential reading for all those concerned with the new communication technologies, including students of media and communications as well as policy-makers
Contents
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
- Information Superhighways or Super-Hypeways
PART TWO: COMPETING THEORIES OF THE CONTEMPORARY
- Third Wave Visions
- Technology as Social Transformer
- An Archeology of Imformation (Sector) Matters
- 'Information Society' Theories
- Culture and Information
- Postmodernisms and the Public Sphere
PART THREE: MAPPING A NEW MILLENNIUM AND MULTIMEDIA ORDER
- Changes, Continuities and Cycles
- Towards a More Realist(ic) Theory
- The 'Atoms and Bits' of Informational Capitalism
- Polarities
- New Modes of Work, Consumption and State Regimes
- 'Content Is King'?
- New Media and 'Mature' Media Innovations
- Information as New Frontier
- Commofication and Consumption Stakes
PART FOUR: ALTERNATIVE PROSPECTS AND POSSIBILITIES
- Beyond Technological Fetishism
- Towards a New Social and Media Order @Y2K+
Description
Thirty years ago, one writer complained that 'to admire technology is all out of fashion'. Today excited claims are made for the impact that these technologies are having on social, political and economic life. But how are we to assess these claims? This book critically interrogates many of the prevailing ideas offers a fresh perspective on this new `digital age'.
Reshaping Communications:
- Provides an alternative and more grounded account of the complex interplay between new technology and information structures and changes in society
- Illuminates the fundamental continuities as well as changes in socioeconomic and political processes
-Draws on an interdisciplinary perspective and original empirical research.
The book will be essential reading for all those concerned with the new communication technologies, including students of media and communications as well as policy-makers
Contents
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
- Information Superhighways or Super-Hypeways
PART TWO: COMPETING THEORIES OF THE CONTEMPORARY
- Third Wave Visions
- Technology as Social Transformer
- An Archeology of Imformation (Sector) Matters
- 'Information Society' Theories
- Culture and Information
- Postmodernisms and the Public Sphere
PART THREE: MAPPING A NEW MILLENNIUM AND MULTIMEDIA ORDER
- Changes, Continuities and Cycles
- Towards a More Realist(ic) Theory
- The 'Atoms and Bits' of Informational Capitalism
- Polarities
- New Modes of Work, Consumption and State Regimes
- 'Content Is King'?
- New Media and 'Mature' Media Innovations
- Information as New Frontier
- Commofication and Consumption Stakes
PART FOUR: ALTERNATIVE PROSPECTS AND POSSIBILITIES
- Beyond Technological Fetishism
- Towards a New Social and Media Order @Y2K+
Reviews
March 2001 | 320 pages | Sage UK
| Format | Published Date | ISBN | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 31/03/2026 | 9780803985629 | $221.00 |
| Paperback | 31/03/2026 | 9780803985636 | $114.00 |
| 180 Day Ebook | 28/03/2023 | 9781847876669 | $67.00 |
| Lifetime | 28/03/2023 | 9781847876669 | $97.00 |
Thirty years ago, one writer complained that 'to admire technology is all out of fashion'. Today excited claims are made for the impact that these technologies are having on social, political and economic life. But how are we to assess these claims? This book critically interrogates many of the prevailing ideas offers a fresh perspective on this new `digital age'.
Reshaping Communications:
- Provides an alternative and more grounded account of the complex interplay between new technology and information structures and changes in society
- Illuminates the fundamental continuities as well as changes in socioeconomic and political processes
-Draws on an interdisciplinary perspective and original empirical research.
The book will be essential reading for all those concerned with the new communication technologies, including students of media and communications as well as policy-makers
Table Of Contents:
- PART ONE: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
- Information Superhighways or Super-Hypeways
- PART TWO: COMPETING THEORIES OF THE CONTEMPORARY
- Third Wave Visions
- Technology as Social Transformer
- An Archeology of Imformation (Sector) Matters
- 'Information Society' Theories
- Culture and Information
- Postmodernisms and the Public Sphere
- PART THREE: MAPPING A NEW MILLENNIUM AND MULTIMEDIA ORDER
- Changes, Continuities and Cycles
- Towards a More Realist(ic) Theory
- The 'Atoms and Bits' of Informational Capitalism
- Polarities
- New Modes of Work, Consumption and State Regimes
- 'Content Is King'?
- New Media and 'Mature' Media Innovations
- Information as New Frontier
- Commofication and Consumption Stakes
- PART FOUR: ALTERNATIVE PROSPECTS AND POSSIBILITIES
- Beyond Technological Fetishism
- Towards a New Social and Media Order @Y2K+
Recent Product Reviews:
“Given the controversies and discursive excesses surrounding the (new) media, a pragmatic voice was long overdue. Reshaping Communications definitely fits in this slot in the discursive universe surrounding new and mature media and communications. . . . Passionately and persuasively argued, the book presents not only a sobering voice in the midst of either excessively eulogizing or apocalyptic ones; it furthermore moves in the direction of making concrete proposals for policy changes that address pressing issues, and initiates a debate on information, technology, communication, and questions social justice.”
Communications: The European Journal of Communication Research
`This is a stimulating, well argued book on an important contemporary subject and based, as is rare in this field, on up-to-date empirical data' - Nicholas Garnham, University of Westminster