Nick Srnicek: Assemblage Theory, Complexity and Contentious Politics. The Political Ontology of Gilles Deleuze (2007)
Filed under thesis | Tags: · assemblage, complexity, individuation, ontology, philosophy, politics, social constructivism, speculative realism
The purpose of this thesis is to reconsider the nature of ontology in contemporary political science, with the belief that such a move can be of great benefit to understanding changes in our era of globalization and terrorism. This is accomplished by examining the ontologies of both social constructivism and critical realism in order to show their reliance upon illegitimate presuppositions, and then developing a novel ontological position on the basis of these criticisms.
Gilles Deleuze’s concept of assemblages – and his ontology, more generally – are examined as particularly powerful ways to conceptualize the complexity, dynamism and differences that are inherent to the political world. This is brought out concretely in a study of recent academic work on contentious politics in order to show the centrality of conflict and difference to politics, and to show the power of a reconceptualization of ontology.
Keywords: Deleuze; Bhaskar; individuation; ontology; complexity; contentious politics; critical realism; assemblages; social constructivism
Unpublished MA Thesis
The University of Western Ontario, 2007.
Stefan Sonvilla-Weiss (ed.): Mashup Cultures (2010)
Filed under book | Tags: · creative commons, crowdsourcing, e-learning, fair use, filesharing, folksonomy, free culture, mashup, network, remix, swarm intelligence, web 2.0
This volume brings together cutting-edge thinkers and scholars together with young researchers and students, proposing a colourful spectrum of media-theoretical, -practical and -educational approaches to current creative practices and techniques of production and consumption on and off the web. Along with the exploration of some of the emerging social media concepts, the book unveils some of the key drivers leading to participatory engagement of the User.
Mashup Cultures presents a broader view of the effects and consequences of current remix practices and the recombination of existing digital cultural content. The complexity of this book, which appears on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the international MA study program ePedagogy Design – Visual Knowledge Building, also by necessity seeks to familiarize the reader with a profound glossary and vocabulary of Web 2.0 cultural techniques.
With contributions by Axel Bruns, Brenda Castro, Doris Gassert, David Gauntlett, Mizuko Ito, Henry Jenkins, Owen Kelly, Noora Sopula & Joni Leimu, Torsten Meyer, Eduardo Navas, Christina Schwalbe, Stefan Sonvilla-Weiss, Wey-Han Tan and Tere Vadén & Juha Varto.
Publisher Springer, 2010
ISBN 370910095X, 9783709100950
Length 256 pages
review (Mike Mosher, Leonardo Reviews)
Comment (0)Megan Boler (ed.): Digital Media and Democracy: Tactics in Hard Times (2008)
Filed under book | Tags: · activism, alternative media, democracy, internet, journalism, mass media, media activism, politics, tactical media, technology, youtube
In an age of proliferating media and news sources, who has the power to define reality? When the dominant media declared the existence of WMDs in Iraq, did that make it a fact? Today, the “social web” (sometimes known as Web 2.0, groupware, or the participatory Web)—epitomized by blogs, viral videos, and YouTube—creates new pathways for truths to emerge and makes possible new tactics for media activism. In Digital Media and Democracy, leading scholars in media and communication studies, media activists, journalists, and artists explore the contradiction at the heart of the relationship between truth and power today: the fact that the radical democratization of knowledge and multiplication of sources and voices made possible by digital media coexists with the blatant falsification of information by political and corporate powers.
The book maps a new digital media landscape that features citizen journalism, The Daily Show, blogging, and alternative media. The contributors discuss broad questions of media and politics, offer nuanced analyses of change in journalism, and undertake detailed examinations of the use of Web-based media in shaping political and social movements. The chapters include not only essays by noted media scholars but also interviews with such journalists and media activists as Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!, Media Matters host Robert McChesney, and Hassan Ibrahim of Al Jazeera.
Publisher MIT Press, 2008
ISBN 0262026422, 9780262026420
464 pages
PDF (updated on 2014-8-29)
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