Global Politics in the Information Age

Description

Global politics in the information age, available in paperback for the first time, presents a provocative and wide-ranging introduction to the notion that information technologies are creating new formations of power, control and resistance across the planet. The essays - ranging from the language used by the Bush administration to shape the war on terror, the attempts to control the circulation of informational products, the strategies of media management deployed to shape how the war in Iraq during 2003 was presented in the public sphere, through to the attempts to 'brand' economic globalisation and strategies of resistance developed by the anti-globalisation movement - unearth the new transformations that are unfolding in the twenty first century. This collection of essays brings together academics working across the social sciences - from International Relations, Political Economy, Sociology and Media Studies - to provide the reader with a number of different perspectives on the way that flows of images, capital, ideologies and informational goods are creating global spaces of control and resistance. The book seeks to rethink approaches to global politics that see information society as closing down spaces of resistance, while at the same time exploring the new formations of power that informational society is making possible. The book offers clearly explained theoretical insight into the debates that are shaping discussion on global politics and information society, with case studies that will be of interest to the student seeking to make sense of the changes that are unfolding. -- .

Mark J. Lacy is Lecturer in International Relations at Lancaster University. Peter Wilkin is Reader in Communication at Brunel University.

'An insightful book that uses the intersection between International Politics and Media Studies to pose timely questions about the changing terrain of global communication. The wide-ranging topics covered in the book - including military rhetoric, online reporting and intellectual property rights - remind us that the everyday practices of global politics exceed traditional debates about war, peace and security. Indeed, this book makes a persuasive case that information and communication technologies are central to any analysis that seeks to make sense of the post 9-11 international sphere.' Dr Debbie Lisle, Queens University Belfast ' - this book must be lauded for its versatility, accesibility and for achieving its objectives to reveal the complexities of communication. Thanks to its wide empirical and theoretical coverage it makes for interesting, thought provoking reading and, being well written and well referenced throughout, it provides an excellent background for further studies in the individual areas of exploration' Andrea Esser - Roehampton University