New Media and Public Activism: Neoliberalism, the State and Radical Protest in the Public Sphere

Description

The Arab Spring, chat forums, political leaders tweeting, online petitions, and protestors in the Occupy Movement - new media public spheres have without doubt radically altered social and political activism in society. But to what extent is this new activist public sphere stifled by the neoliberal economy and workfare state? Have we in fact become transformed into subjects of online consumption and orderly surveillance, rather than committed social and political campaigners? In this highly topical book, John Michael Roberts employs a political economy perspective to explore the relationship between financial neoliberal capitalism and digital publics. He assesses the extent to which they provide new forms of radical protest in civil society and offers an indispensable guide to understanding the relationship between the state, new media activism and neoliberal practices.

John Michael Roberts is Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Communications at Brunel University, London. He has researched and written on the topics of free speech and the public sphere, voluntary activity, philosophy of social science, global political economy and the information society, and management discourse in the workplace.

"This is an extremely good book, which contains a range of fascinating arguments and ideas about new media public spheres". Professor Jonathan Joseph, Department of Politics, University of Sheffield "John Michael Roberts is one of the first to offer a comprehensive and intelligent analysis of new media's implications for the public sector, from activism to organized labour. His book is a must read for anyone interested in the role of communication and media technologies in the blurring of boundaries between private, public and commercial." Jose van Dijck, Professor of Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam, and author of The Culture of Connectivity. A Critical History of Social Media