Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
This book sheds light on the world of the Internet and social media through a historical prism drawn from the Medieval Age. Memes and metaphors originating in medieval society have often been used to describe and explain contemporary society. Social shaming has been described as “a pillory”, good deeds have been deemed as knightly, persecution or censorship has been labelled as inquisitions and elitist tendencies in political life are sometimes dubbed feudalism. This book argues that terms and concepts originating in medieval society are suitable for describing and discussing a plethora of social and political phenomena, all related to the massive rise and use of new digital media technologies and adherent societal paradoxes, dilemmas and challenges. The author argues that apparently distinct social phenomena related to the spread of new media are related and a product of logics that dominated medieval society, not at least those of control, surveillance and feudalism.
Price: $31.99
Pages: 152
Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
Imprint: Emerald Publishing Limited
Publication Date:
11 September 2020
ISBN: 9781839094132
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
'Jakob Linaa Jensen provides a timely reminder that there's nothing like a detour through history to dispel the facile promise that the Internet will empower the people and revitalize democracy. The Medieval Internet is a sweeping and provocative account of the affinities between our datafied, "post-industrial" era and the brutality of feudal-era exploitation. However, his nuanced approach to the Medieval Era also unearths resources for hope -- but not without a struggle. This is a fascinating and invaluable book that sheds new light on our current predicament.'
Jakob Linaa Jensen, Ph.D., M.A. in Politics is Research Director of Social Media at the Danish School of Media and Journalism. He has been associate professor of Media Studies at Aarhus University for nine years. He has published three monographs, three edited volumes and more than 30 international journal articles.
Chapter 1. The Middle Ages and medieval ways of living and thinking
Chapter 2. The Medieval and the contemporary landscape of information
Chapter 3. The public – deliberation, visibility and mutual surveillance
Chapter 4. Community and beyond – medieval and modern
Chapter 5. Instruments of Internet power
Chapter 6. Structures of Internet power – algorithms and platforms
Chapter 7. Digital feudalism
Chapter 8. Politics and publics