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Theories of the Information Society
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Webster as discussed by the authors examines what thinkers mean by an information society, and looks closely at different approaches to informational developments, concluding that, while there has undoubtedly been an information explosion, it is premature to conceive of an Information Society.Abstract:
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This book sets out to examine and assess the variety of theories of information in society currently available. Frank Webster sceptically examines what thinkers mean by an information society, and looks closely at different approaches to informational developments. He provides critical commentaries on the major postwar theories: Daniel Bell's ideas on a post-industrial information society, Anthony Giddens' thoughts on the growth of surveillance and the expansion of the nation state, Herbert Schiller's insistence that information both expresses and consolidates the interests of corporate capitalism: Jurgen Habermas' account of the diminishment of the public sphere; Jean Baudrillard's thoughts on postmodernism and information, and Manuel Castells' depiction of the 'informational city'. Each theorisation is subjected to close scrutiny and is tested against empirical evidence to assess its worth. The author concludes that, while there has undoubtedly been an information explosion, it is premature to conceive of an information society. We should rather emphasise the 'informatisation' of established relations.read more
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References
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Book
Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism
TL;DR: In this paper, Anderson examines the creation and global spread of the 'imagined communities' of nationality and explores the processes that created these communities: the territorialisation of religious faiths, the decline of antique kingship, the interaction between capitalism and print, the development of vernacular languages-of-state, and changing conceptions of time.
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Locating the 17th Book of Giddens@@@The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration.
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Journal ArticleDOI
Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism
TL;DR: In this paper, Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism are discussed. And the history of European ideas: Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 721-722.
Book
The Constitution of Society. Outline of the Theory of Structuration
TL;DR: Giddens as discussed by the authors has been in the forefront of developments in social theory for the past decade and outlines the distinctive position he has evolved during that period and offers a full statement of a major new perspective in social thought, a synthesis and elaboration of ideas touched on in previous works but described here for the first time in an integrated and comprehensive form.