Digital Depression

The Geopolitics of Information

by Dan Schiller

The financial crisis of 2007-08 shook the idea that advanced information and communications technologies (ICTs) as solely a source of economic rejuvenation and uplift, instead introducing the world to the once-unthinkable idea of a technological revolution wrapped inside an economic collapse. In Digital Depression, Dan Schiller delves into the ways networked systems and ICTs have transformed global capitalism during the so-called Great Recession. He focuses on capitalism's crisis tendencies to confront the contradictory matrix of a technological revolution and economic stagnation making up the current political economy and demonstrates digital technology's central role in the global political economy. As he shows, the forces at the core of capitalism--exploitation, commodification, and inequality--are ongoing and accelerating within the networked political economy.

Genres: Technology

377 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Donna Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

We think information and communications technology are here to push us forward, it's supposed to uplift us, help us communicate with each other...it's true it does, sometimes, but there's a dark side to ICT. It can depress our lives, it can add to inequality, isolation, exploitation, commodification...it can do more harm that good. Schiller takes us on a historical journey through decades of ICTs, and their special place in globalization, financial downturns (yes, even the big big ones), and how it impacts every single moment of our lives and how we should be more aware that it impacts every single moment of our lives. Radio, telegraph, TV, movies, videos, video games, computers, telephones, cellphones, satellites, internet...it all helps us communicate, connect, and come together, in a perfect world.

[Prasanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Digital Depression takes a comprehensive look at the star performer - ICTs - of the last three decades and provides a historical view of how digital technology impacted every facet of our lives: from how we communicate with each other to global political and social policies.