The Mode of Information: Poststructuralism and Social ContextWhen we make phone calls and use computers, electronic devices mediate how we communicate. In each instance, we exchange symbols and information just as we have since humans began speaking and writing. What, then—besides economy of space and time—differentiates electronic communications from ordinary speech and writing? The difference, Mark Poster argues, is the profound effect electronic mediation exerts on the very way we perceive ourselves and reality. To help decode the linguistic dimensions of our multiple forms of social interaction, he plays upon Marx's theory of the mode of production—the shift to late capitalism has a parallel in the shift from the mode of production to that of information. Enlisting poststructuralist theory, he links four modes of communication with four poststructuralists: TV ads with Baudrillard, data bases with Foucault, electronic writing with Derrida, and computer science with Lyotard. Mode of Information points the way to a poststructuralist strategy for writing history, a framework well suited to unearthing structures of domination and the means to their disruption. "An informed, insightful, provocative account of phenomena that have transformed virtually every area of public and private life on our time."—Robert Anchor, American Historical Review "The importance of Poster's book is unmistakable for he skillfully negotiates between and juxtaposes two wide theoretical domains—electronically mediated communications and poststructuralist theory—about which much has been written, but hardly with the acumen that he brings to bear in a long-awaited critical rapprochement."—Charles J. Stivale, Criticism |
Contents
Words without Things | 1 |
Bell and the Problem of Rhetoric | 21 |
The Language of the Economy | 43 |
Participatory Surveillance | 69 |
The Subject of the Computer | 99 |
The Possibilities of Postmodern Politics | 129 |
Notes | 155 |
178 | |
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Common terms and phrases
action Althusser analysis argue argument audiophile Baudrillard becomes Bell bureaucracy capitalism capitalist computer conferencing Computer Science computer writing computerized concept configuration constituted consumer context critical social theory critical theory critique culture cybernetics databases deconstruction define Derrida Differend digital encoding discipline discourse domination economy effects electronic language electronic writing electronically mediated communication field Foucault Habermas human hyperreal Ibid identity ideology individual instrumental rational interpretation Jacques Derrida Jean Baudrillard Jean-François Lyotard knowledge labor Laclau and Mouffe legitimate linguistic logocentric Lyotard machine Marx Marxist mass meaning message services metanarratives Minitel mode of information mode of production modern society object philosopher political position postcard postindustrial society Postmodern Condition poststructuralism poststructuralist practice problem question rational relation representation reproduce scientific signifier situation speech strategy structure surveillance television term textual theoretical theorist Thousand Plateaus totalizing trans TV ads University Press Weber words York
References to this book
Globalization: Social Theory and Global Culture Professor Roland Robertson No preview available - 1992 |
The Network Nation: Human Communication Via Computer Starr Roxanne Hiltz,Murray Turoff Limited preview - 1993 |