The Dialectic of Digital Culture
In Spring 2018, the Center for Theory hosted a series of colloquia tied to the topic “Dialectic of Digital Culture.” The result was a book entitled The Dialectic of Digital Culture co-edited by David Arditi and Jennifer Miller.
About The Dialectic of Digital Culture:
The aim of this edited collection is to understand the role of digital technology in contemporary society dialectically. While many authors, journalists, and commentators have argued that the Internet and digital technologies will bring us democracy, equality and freedom, digital culture often results in loss of privacy, misinformation, and exploitation. This collection challenges celebratory readings of digital technology by suggesting digital culture’s potential is limited because of its fundamental relationship to oppressive social forces.
Contributors to this collection are particularly interested the ways the digital realm challenges and/or reproduces power. Contributors provide innovative case studies of phenomenon including #metoo, Etsy, mommy blogs, music streaming, sustainability and net neutrality to reveal the reproduction of neoliberal cultural logics. In seemingly transformative digital spaces, these essays provide dialectical readings that challenge dominant narratives about technology. Even more, by writing about specific aspects of digital culture that are often under explored, the collection will interest a variety of students and researchers across disciplines and fields of interest.
Here is the Table of Contents and list of authors.
Digital Culture: Promises, Progress and Power
Four contributors to The Dialectic of Digital Culture participated in a roundtable about the book. Watch the video of the event.
The Download with Dr. David Arditi
David Arditi, the Director fo the Center for Theory and co-editor of The Dialectic of Digital Culture conducted an interview for The University of Texas at Arlington’s College of Liberal Arts magazine. Read the interview here.
MusicDetour – DFW Local Music Archive
MusicDetour: DFW Local Music Archive is a digital depository for music created and performed in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It will preserve all genres performed in the Metroplex and serve as a free public resource. Local musicians create music that often is not recorded or the recordings are not stored. This is a wealth of cultural creation that is never archived. By archiving this music, MusicDetour serves as a permanent record of local music upon which new culture can be produced.