Organising during the Coronavirus Crisis: The Contradictions of Our Digital Lives [Paperback]

This book investigates the use of digital technologies for social organisation during the Covid-19 pandemic, interrogating the specific relationship between digital technologies and social movements. Drawing upon Marxs theory of alienation and Antonio Gramscis concepts concerning common-sense, good sense, hegemony and praxis, the author examines the effectiveness of digital technologies in filling the social void created by the pandemic.

A series of in-depth interviews across a spectrum of areas  from community activism, mental health, trade union organisation, the creative arts, and resistance movements  reveal how digital technologies flourished during the pandemic crisis, facilitating new ways to communicate. However, the interviews also throw into sharp relief the inadequacies of digital technologies. The book challenges conventional wisdom concerning the beneficial impact of digital machines on our lives.

This book will have a broad appeal to anyone researching or teaching the societal, ethical and political implications of digital technologies, particularly from a qualitative perspective. It also has relevance for a wider readership concerned about the influence of social media.

Chapter 1: COVID-19, Digital Technologies  a challenging time.- Chapter 2: COVID-19, digital technologies, and labour organisation.- Chapter 3: Digital technologies, Covid and mutual aid.- Chapter 4: COVID-19, digital technologies and coping with mental health.- Chapter 5: COVID-19, digital technologies, and the creative arts.- Chapter 6: Covid-19, digital technologies, and protest movements.- Chapter 7: Conclusion.

“One of the strengths of the book, then, is that it provides a repository of first-hand accounts of how people organized and fostered community during this time of crisis. It stands as a lasting time capsule of the lived experience oflÓÊ