White Noise An A-Z of the Contradictions of Cyberculture [Hardcover]

Transcending recent attempts to pigeonhole 'the information revolution', this book shows how the paradoxical aspects of new media and the Internet (is it masculine or feminine? Does it mean peace or war?) are the peculiarly intense expression of the contradictions underlying our whole society. Andrew Calcutt is an enthusiastic champion of the potential for new communications technology, and a trenchant critic of the culture of fear which prevents its realisation.Preface Anarchy/Authority Boys/Girls Community/ Isolation Democracy/Diversity Equality/Elitism Fee/Free Hacking/Slacking Gates/Anti-Gates Innovation/Stagnation Journalism/Personalism Knockers/Boosters Logical/Mystical M-o-R/Counterculture Nostalgia/Futurism Overload/Information Play/Work Queer/Ordinary Risk/Safety Subject/Object Technical/Cultural Universal/Particular Virtual/Virtual War/Peace X-rated/Infantilisation Youth/Age Zero Sum Game/Everything to Play for Index

A sophisticated and readable survey of the myriad facets of cyber-culture. - Future Survey

This is a marvelous book for use in both graduate and undergraduate courses in media and society, new technologies, or urban anthropology. - Communication Booknotes Quarterly

ANDREW CALCUTT is a frequent contributor to LM Magazine and a commissioning editor at Web-Content Providers Cyberia Online. His work has also appeared in Arena, Futures, The Idler and The Modern Review. Previous publications include Arrested Development: Pop Culture and the Erosion of Adulthood, and Beat: the Iconography of Victimhood from the Beats to Princess Diana.