The acceleration in science, technology, communication, and production that began in the second half of the twentieth century- developments which make up the concept of the "digital"-has brought us to what might be the most contradictory moment in human history. The digital revolution has made it possible not only to imagine but to actually realize a world in which social inequality and poverty are vanquished. But instead these developments have led to an unprecedented level of accumulation of private profits. Rather than the end of social inequality we are witness to its global expansion.
Recent cultural theory tends to focus on the intricate surface effects of the emerging digital realities, proposing that technological advances effect greater cultural freedom for all, ignoring the underpinning social context. But beneath the surfaces of digital culture are complex social and historical relations that can be understood only from the perspective of a class analysis which explains why the new realities of the "digital condition" are conditioned by the actualities of global class inequalities. It is no longer the case that "technology" can take on the appearance of a simple or neutral aspect of human society. It is time for a critique of the digital times.
In The Digital Condition, Rob Wilkie advances a groundbreaking analysis of digital culture which argues that the digital geist-which has its genealogy in such concepts as the "body without organs," "spectrality," and "differance"-has obscured the implications of class difference with the phantom of a digital divide. Engaging the writings of Hardt and Negri, Poster, Deleuze and Guattari, Derrida, Haraway, Latour, and Castells, the literature and cinema of cyberpunk, and digital commodities like the iPod, Wilkie initiates a new direction within the field of digital cultural studies by foregrounding the continuing importance of class in shaping the contemporary.
Industry Reviews
"Outstanding scholarship that is at once comprehensive, relevant, provocative, and necessary." -- -Steven Wexler California State University, Northridge "Through a dense and layered study which seamlessly connects sustained philosophical readings of Plato, Kant, Heidegger, Derrida, Jameson, and Negri with a critical analysis of some of the changes resulting from technological innovation and globalization, and incisive interpretations of some of the icons of digital culture, including the iPod, post-cyber/nano-punk and films like The Matrix, Wilkie offers in his book a cutting-edge theorization of digital culture that will instantly establish him as one of the most exciting new voices working in critical and cultural theory today." -- -Peter McLaren University of California, Los Angeles "Touching on the production of knowledge in the digital age, literature, and cinema-and weaving Marx, Heidegger, Derrida, Lyotard, et al. throughout-this book is a clarion call for cultural theory: having promoted digital culture, cultural theory must return to focus on the struggle of labor and how technological development can best serve the interests of all. Highly recommended." -Choice "The Digital Condition advances a groundbreaking analysis of digital culture and argues that the digital environment has obscured the implications of class difference, changing digital reality and perception. Underlying digital culture are social and historical relations that require class analysis to explain why new realities are determined by global class inequalities. The result is a powerful guide perfect for any college-level computer issues or cultural history holding." -California Bookwatch
