Author Biography:
Andrew Herman is Associate Professor of Sociology and Cultural Studies at Drake University. Thomas Swiss is Center for the Humanities Professor of English and Director of the Web-Assisted Curriculum at Drake University.

The World Wide Web is the most well-known, celebrated, and promoted contemporary manifestation of 'cyberspace'. To date, however, most of the public discourse on the Web falls into the category of explanatory journalism - the Web has remained largely unmapped in terms of contemporary cultural research. This book, however, begins that mapping by bringing together more than a dozen well-known scholars across the humanities and social sciences to explore the Web as a cultural technology characterized by a nexus of economic, political, social, and aesthetic forces. Engaging the thematic issues of the Web as a space where magic, metaphor, and power converge, the chapters cover such subjects as The Web and Corporate Media Systems, Conspiracy Theories and the Web, The Economy of Cyberpromotion, The Bias of the Web and The Web and Issues of Gender.

This book deals with a topical issue relating to the use of script in Japan, one which has the potential to reshape future script policy through the mediation of both orthographic practices and social relations. It tells the story of the impact of one of the most significant technological breakthroughs in Japan in the latter part of this century: the invention and rapid adoption of word-processing technology capable of handling Japanese script in a society where the nature of that script had previously mandated handwriting as the norm. The ramifications of this technology in both the business and personal spheres have been wide-ranging, extending from changes to business practices, work profiles, orthography and social attitudes to writing through to Japan's ability to construct a substantial presence on the Internet in recent years.

The Internet is transforming political institutions and modes of political communication. It is also transforming relaitons between states and between citizens. Above all it provides opportunities to create new political communities. This book provides examples of how it is beginning to do so at the sub-state, state and international levels. Both established democracies, such as the US, the UK and Germany, as well as authoritarian regimes in Asia and Africa, are having to come to terms with it. But although it can be a force for increased democracy and for the spread of human rights worldwide, it may also be used by anti-democratic groups who have previously been marginalised. Both ethnic minorities and neo-Nazi groups are already trying to make the most of the Internet. Strong democracy or a 1984-type state: both are possibilities, both present enormous challenges.

The Internet is transforming political institutions and modes of political communication. It is also transforming relaitons between states and between citizens. Above all it provides opportunities to create new political communities. This book provides examples of how it is beginning to do so at the sub-state, state and international levels. Both established democracies, such as the US, the UK and Germany, as well as authoritarian regimes in Asia and Africa, are having to come to terms with it. But although it can be a force for increased democracy and for the spread of human rights worldwide, it may also be used by anti-democratic groups who have previously been marginalised. Both ethnic minorities and neo-Nazi groups are already trying to make the most of the Internet. Strong democracy or a 1984-type state: both are possibilities, both present enormous challenges.

This special issue calls for a greater awareness of computing as a critical area of study for those interested in educational studies. Its purpose is to open up a wider dialogue about computing and education than has previously existed in the field. The questions raised provide the basis for a lively discussion and analysis of the role of educational studies in interpreting the role of computing in our culture and educational system. This issue also provides a model for exploring other topics of similar significance and importance to the field in future issues of the journal.

We are often told that we are 'living in an information society' or that we are 'information workers'. But what exactly do these claims mean, and how might they be verified? In this important methodological study, Alistair Duff cuts through the rhetoric to get to the bottom of the 'information society thesis'.
Wide-ranging in coverage, this study will be of interest to scholars in information science, communication and media studies and social theory. It is a key text for the newly-unified specialism of information society studies, and an indispensable guide to the future of this discipline.

Buying groceries, tracking our health, finding a date: whatever we want to do, odds are that we can now do it online. But few of us ask how all these digital products are designed or why. It's time we changed that. Many of the services we rely on are full of oversights, biases and downright ethical nightmares. Chatbots that harass women. Sign-up forms that fail anyone who's not straight. Social media sites that send messages about dead relatives. Algorithms that put more black people behind bars. Technically Wrong takes an unflinching look at the values, processes and assumptions that lead to these problems and more. Wachter-Boettcher demystifies the tech industry, leaving those of us on the other side of the screen better prepared to make informed choices about the services we use-and demand more from the companies behind them.

"Bridging the Digital Divide" investigates problems of unequal access to information technology. The author redefines this problem, examines its severity, and lays out what the future implications might be if the digital divide continues to exist. This is also the first book to assess empirically the policies in the United States designed to address the social problems arising from the digital divide. It analyzes policies at both federal and local level, as well as looking at the success of community-based initiatives. The analysis is supported by empirical data resulting from extensive fieldwork in several US cities. The book concludes with the author's recommendations for future public policy on the digital divide.

Although it is hardly publicized, something remarkable is happening to Organized Labor. Key players in the United States and abroad are busy modernizing their communications, and making creative and effective use of computers and other technology. Drawing on "infotech" devices (computer networks, the Internet, video conferencing, fax machines, wireless communication, and multi-media), Labor struggles to renew its "voice" and "ears", and, in the process, new hope has been stirred that this just might help it transform its organizational culture, refine its mission, and reinvent itself.

The road to creating a CyberUnion (the combination of four strategic reform aids -- futuristics, innovations, services, and traditions -- knitted together with infotech resources into a comprehensive industrial relations model) has already begun and unions already embracing this model are ensuring a position of strength in the 21st century. CyberUnion is a bold plan for Organized Labor to remain strong for many decades to come, and this work examines the components of the model, progress already made, and plans to ensure continued success.

The Gendered Cyborg explores the relationship between representation, technoscience and gender, through the metaphor of the cyborg. The contributors argue that the figure of the cyborg offers new ways of thinking about the relationship between culture and technology, people and machines, which disrupt the power of science to enforce the categories through which we think about being human: male and female. Taking inspiration from Donna Haraway's groundbreaking Manifesto for Cyborgs, the articles consider how the cyborg has been used in cultural representation from reproductive technology to sci-fi, and question whether the cyborg is as powerful a symbol as is often claimed. The different sections of the reader explore:

* the construction of gender categories through science

* the interraction of technoscience and gender in contemporary science fiction films such as Blade Runner and the Alien series

* debates around modern reproductive technology such as ultrasound scans and IVF, assessing their benefits and constraints for women

* issues relating to artificial intelligence and the internet


eBook available with sample pages: PB:0415220912

Virtual States analyses the role of the state in a globalising, wired society. Everard argues that while information technology poses fundamental challenges to the inclusionary/exclusionary processes of state-making, this will not mean the decline but rather the mutation of the state. Everard goes on to look at the different ways in which states react to the wired society in the developing and developed worlds and the impact of these reactions on those excluded from this society.

Key players in organized labour in the USA and abroad are busy modernizing their communications and making creative and effective use of computers and other technology. The author of this book argues that the road to CyberUnion has begun and that those unions are ensuring a future strength.

Exploring the debates surrounding technological change, from the politics of education to questions of identity centred around the figure of the cyborg, this text scrutinizes the unfettered optimism of corporate figures such as Bill Gates. Authors Robins and Webster question whether new technologies justify the utopian rhetoric with which they are promoted, and distinguish genuine innovations from technologies which simply reproduce conservative social practices in a new guise. The text explores the social and cultural impact of new technologies, tracing the origins of the information society from the coming of the machine with the industrial revolution to the development of mass production techniques in the early 20th century. The authors look at how the military has controlled the development of the information society, and consider the centrality of education in government attempts to create a knowledge society.;Engaging in contemporary debates surrounding the Internet, Robins and Webster question whether it can really offer us a new world of virtual communities, and suggest more radical alternatives to the corporate agenda of contemporary technologies.

Times of the Technoculture explores the social and cultural impact of new technologies, tracing the origins of the information society from the coming of the machine with the industrial revolution to the development of mass production techniques in the early twentieth century.
The authors look at how the military has controlled the development of the information society, and consider the centrality of education in government attempts to create a knowledge society. Engaging in contemporary debates surrounding the internet, Robins and Webster question whether it can really offer us a new world of virtual communities, and suggest more radical alternatives to the corporate agenda of contemporary technologies.

Virtual Geographies explores how new communication technologies are being used to produce new geographies and new types of space. Leading contributors from a wide range of disciplines including geography, sociology, philosophy and literature:
* investigate how visions of cyberspace have been constructed
* offer a critical assessment of the status of virtual environments and geographies
* explore how virtual environments reshape the way we think and write about the world. This book sets recent technological developments in a historical and geographical perspective to offer a clearer view of the new vistas ahead.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203169425

Virtual Geographies explores how new communication technologies are being used to produce new geographies and new types of space. Leading contributors from a wide range of disciplines including geography, sociology, philosophy and literature:
* investigate how visions of cyberspace have been constructed
* offer a critical assessment of the status of virtual environments and geographies
* explore how virtual environments reshape the way we think and write about the world.
This book sets recent technological developments in a historical and geographical perspective to offer a clearer view of the new vistas ahead.

Discusses the legal, ethical, and societal implications of information technology. Covers important topics including infringement of intellectual property, security risks, Internet crime, and social networking. Provides in-depth knowledge of privacy techniques. Discusses concepts of intellectual property (IPR) and issues in software development.

Cyborgs@Cyberspace is a compelling and innovative analysis of technology from a cultural perspective. Arguing that humans have always been technological as well as cultural beings, David Hakken calls for a fundamental rethinking of the traditional separation of anthropology and technical studies.
Drawing on three decades of research on contemporary technological societies, this book outlines a fresh way of thinking about technology and offers an ethical and political response to the challenge of truly living as "cyborgs" in the age of cyberspace.

Marshall McLuhan died on the last day of 1980, on the doorstep of the personal computer revolution. Yet McLuhan's ideas anticipated a world of media in motion, and its impact on our lives on the dawn of the new millennium.
By exploring the technological influence in industries from publishing to politics, entertainment to business, McLuhan opened the doors for understanding the human relationship with technology. Levinson's own exploration of McLuhan's significance in the new electronic generation clarifies the prophetic insights, principles and constructs in McLuhan's work.
Paul Levinson examines why McLuhan's theories about media are more important to us today than when they were first written, and why the Wired generation is now turning to McLuhan's work to understand the global village in the digital age.

Related link: http://www.sfwa.org/members/Levinson

In this explosive memoir, a political consultant and technology whistleblower reveals the disturbing truth about the multi-billion-dollar data industry, revealing to the public how companies are getting richer using our personal information and exposing how Cambridge Analytica exploited weaknesses in privacy laws to help elect Donald Trump. When Brittany Kaiser joined Cambridge Analytica - the UK-based political consulting firm funded by conservative billionaire and Donald Trump patron Robert Mercer - she was an idealistic young professional working on her fourth degree in human rights law and international relations. A veteran of Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, Kaiser's goal was to utilize data for humanitarian purposes, most notably to prevent genocide and human rights abuses. But her experience inside Cambridge Analytica opened her eyes to the tremendous risks that this unregulated industry poses to privacy and democracy. Targeted is Kaiser's eyewitness chronicle of the dramatic and disturbing story of the rise and fall of Cambridge Analytica. She reveals to the public how Facebook's lax policies and lack of sufficient national laws allowed voters to be manipulated in both Britain and the United States, where personal data was weaponised to spread fake news and racist messaging during the Brexit vote and the 2016 election. But the damage isn't done Kaiser warns; the 2020 election can be compromised as well if we continue to do nothing. In the aftermath of the U.S. election, as she became aware of the horrifying reality of what Cambridge Analytica had done in support of Donald Trump, Kaiser made the difficult choice to expose the truth. Risking her career, relationships, and personal safety, she told authorities about the data industry's unethical business practices, eventually testifying before Parliament. Packed with never-before-publicly-told stories, Targeted goes inside the secretive meetings with Trump campaign personnel and details the promises Cambridge Analytica made to win. Throughout, Kaiser makes the case for regulation, arguing that legal oversight of the data industry is not only justifiable but essential to ensuring the long-term safety of our democracy.

This book provides an overview of key issues concerning the impact of the world wide web on the political process.

Have we resigned ourselves to a cyber-future that has been decided behind our backs? Why is technology - and our understanding of it - central to the concerns of critical social theory? In developing the PC technologists have borrowed ideas from the human sciences about what people are like, about the nature of meaning and the desirability of some experiences over others. Yet, to date, the academic disciplines most concerned with these ideas have offered neither resistance nor debate. In this book, Graeme Kirkpatrick shows why it is crucial that we initiate that debate. Offering a revealing critique of PC design and the social assumptions that underlie it, Kirkpatrick argues that it relies on a particular conception of a capitalistic society that expects its technology to come pre-packaged, mass-marketed and "user-friendly". Anyone who is critical of such a society and its commodification of human achievement should, he suggests, be suspicious. Kirkpatrick argues that the computer is a contested space within which major social conflicts are played out. On the one hand, there is a narrative of flexibility and human empowerment, and on the other a sense of a "system" that controls our lives, leaving us in thrall to the computer corporations, and at constant risk from phishers and hackers. The outcomes of these conflicts are extremely important as they will shape our future experience of technology, society and politics. Critical Technology is a lively, provocative and often radical book, which forces us to reflect on the meaning of an artefact that is central to our daily lives, yet that we too often take for granted.

This wide-ranging volume presents in-depth research into the effect of new information technologies on organizational structure, assesses their progress towards transformation and describes the changes they are making to long-established business process roles, cultures and working practices. The book is based upon a series of rolling surveys carried out between 1989 and the present day, and funded by organizations such as IBM and KPMG. It provides a detailed picture of a sector in transition during a period of anxiety and doubt dominated by restructuring, downsizing and experimentation with re-engineering. As the "lean and mean" emerge, they must now ask themselves if their competencies will enable them to survive into the next decade as competitors, such as Sainsburys, Virgin, Microsoft and Ford position themselves to become major players in the sector. This book is a contribution to the debate on the growth of knowledge work, the need for core organizational competencies in the information age and the need for evolutionary, or radical, change.