John Postill

The irruption of WikiLeaks, Anonymous, Snowden and other tech-savvy actors onto the global political stage raises urgent questions about the impact of digital activism on political systems around the world. The Rise of Nerd Politics is an anthropological exploration of the role that such actors play in sparking and managing new processes of political change in the digital age.Drawing from long-term ethnographic research in Spain and Indonesia - as well as case studies from the United States, Iceland, Tunisia, Taiwan, Brazil and elsewhere - Postill tracks the rise of techno-political 'nerds' as a new class of political brokers with growing influence. The book identifies and explores four domains of 'nerd politics' that have dramatically expanded since 2010: data activism, digital rights, social protest and formal politics.A lively and engaging intervention at the conjuncture of anthropology, media studies and sociology, The Rise of Nerd Politics offers a pertinent reflection on the future of political change in the digital age.

Digital Activism and Political Change

The Rise of Nerd Politics

Tania Lewis

Larissa Hjorth

Heather Horst

Sarah Pink

Jo Tacchi

Lecturers, request your electronic inspection copy This sharp, innovative book champions the rising significance of ethnographic research on the use of digital resources around the world. It contextualises digital and pre-digital ethnographic research and demonstrates how the methodological, practical and theoretical dimensions are increasingly intertwined. Digital ethnography is central to our understanding of the social world; it can shape methodology and methods, and provides the technological tools needed to research society. The authoritative team of authors clearly set out how to research localities, objects and events as well as providing insights into exploring individuals’ or communities’ lived experiences, practices and relationships. The book: Defines a series of central concepts in this new branch of social and cultural research Challenges existing conceptual and analytical categories Showcases new and innovative methods Theorises the digital world in new ways Encourages us to rethink pre-digital practices, media and environments This is the ideal introduction for anyone intending to conduct ethnographic research in today’s digital society.

Principles and Practice

Digital Ethnography

The irruption of WikiLeaks, Anonymous, Snowden and other tech-savvy actors onto the global political stage raises urgent questions about the impact of digital activism on political systems around the world. The Rise of Nerd Politics is an anthropological exploration of the role that such actors play in sparking and managing new processes of political change in the digital age. Drawing from long-term ethnographic research in Spain and Indonesia - as well as case studies from the United States, Iceland, Tunisia, Taiwan, Brazil and elsewhere - Postill tracks the rise of techno-political 'nerds' as a new class of political brokers with growing influence. The book identifies and explores four domains of 'nerd politics' that have dramatically expanded since 2010: data activism, digital rights, social protest and formal politics. A lively and engaging intervention at the conjuncture of anthropology, media studies and sociology, The Rise of Nerd Politics offers a pertinent reflection on the future of political change in the digital age.

Esta obra es el resultado del rico e innovador trabajo que realizan los miembros del Digital Ethnography Research Centre (DERC) de la RMIT University, Australia. Un trabajo agudo e innovador que defiende la creciente importancia de la investigación etnográfica sobre el uso y las implicaciones de los recursos digitales que moldean la forma en que vivimos hoy en día. Contextualizan la investigación etnográfica digital y predigital y demuestran cómo las dimensiones metodológicas, prácticas y teóricas están cada vez más interrelacionadas. La etnografía digital es fundamental para obtener una comprensión bien informada, contextualizada y conceptualmente fundamentada de nuestros nuevos mundos digitales; lo que condiciona y obliga a repensar la metodología y las herramientas tecnológicas necesarias para investigar en estas realidades. Este experto equipo de investigadoras e investigadores despliega una nueva sensibilidad y expone claramente cómo investigar situaciones, objetos y eventos; proporciona ideas para explorar las experiencias, las prácticas y las relaciones vividas por los individuos o las comunidades. Una obra que: Define los conceptos centrales en esta nueva rama de la investigación social y cultural. Desafía las categorías conceptuales y analíticas existentes. Presenta métodos nuevos e innovadores. Teoriza el mundo digital de nuevas maneras. Nos anima a repensar las prácticas predigitales, los medios de comunicación, las redes sociales y los entornos digitales. Un volumen repleto de buenos y claros ejemplos de investigación y perspectivas teóricas claras, lo que le convierte en una obra fundamental y desafiante para cualquier persona interesada en comprender la diversidad y complejidad digital en la vida cotidiana y que pretenda realizar investigaciones etnográficas en la sociedad actual.

Etnografía digital

Internet activism is playing a crucial role in the democratic reform happening across many parts of Southeast Asia. Focusing on Subang Jaya, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, this study offers an in-depth examination of the workings of the Internet at the local level. In fact, Subang Jaya is regarded as Malaysia's electronic governance laboratory. The author explores its field of residential affairs, a digitally mediated social field in which residents, civil servants, politicians, online journalists and other social agents struggle over how the locality is to be governed at the dawn of the 'Information Era'. Drawing on the field theories of both Pierre Bourdieu and the Manchester School of political anthropology, this study challenges the unquestioned predominance of 'network' and 'community' as the two key sociation concepts in contemporary Internet studies. The analysis extends field theory in four new directions, namely the complex articulations between personal networking and social fields, the uneven diffusion and circulation of new field technologies and contents, intra- and inter-field political crises, and the emergence of new forms of residential sociality.

John Postill

Books

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