The Critique of Digital Capitalism: An Analysis of the Political Economy of Digital Culture and Technology / (Record no. 234294)

MARC details
000 -LEADER
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001 - CONTROL NUMBER
control field musev2_76495
003 - CONTROL NUMBER IDENTIFIER
control field MdBmJHUP
005 - DATE AND TIME OF LATEST TRANSACTION
control field 20240815120832.0
006 - FIXED-LENGTH DATA ELEMENTS--ADDITIONAL MATERIAL CHARACTERISTICS
fixed length control field m o d
007 - PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION FIXED FIELD--GENERAL INFORMATION
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008 - FIXED-LENGTH DATA ELEMENTS--GENERAL INFORMATION
fixed length control field 200729r20202015nyu o 00 0 eng d
020 ## - INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BOOK NUMBER
International Standard Book Number 9780692598443
035 ## - SYSTEM CONTROL NUMBER
System control number (OCoLC)1181774065
040 ## - CATALOGING SOURCE
Original cataloging agency MdBmJHUP
Transcribing agency MdBmJHUP
050 #4 - LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CALL NUMBER
Classification number HM851
Item number .B483 2015
082 0# - DEWEY DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION NUMBER
Classification number 303.48/33
Edition number 23
100 1# - MAIN ENTRY--PERSONAL NAME
Personal name Betancourt, Michael,
Dates associated with a name 1970-
Relator term author.
245 14 - TITLE STATEMENT
Title The Critique of Digital Capitalism: An Analysis of the Political Economy of Digital Culture and Technology /
Statement of responsibility, etc. Michael Betancourt.
264 #1 - PRODUCTION, PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, MANUFACTURE, AND COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Place of production, publication, distribution, manufacture Baltimore, Maryland :
Name of producer, publisher, distributor, manufacturer Project Muse,
Date of production, publication, distribution, manufacture, or copyright notice 2020
264 #3 - PRODUCTION, PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, MANUFACTURE, AND COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Place of production, publication, distribution, manufacture Baltimore, Md. :
Name of producer, publisher, distributor, manufacturer Project MUSE,
Date of production, publication, distribution, manufacture, or copyright notice 2020
264 #4 - PRODUCTION, PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, MANUFACTURE, AND COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Date of production, publication, distribution, manufacture, or copyright notice ©2020
300 ## - PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Extent 1 online resource (262 pages):
Other physical details illustrations
336 ## - CONTENT TYPE
Content type term text
Content type code txt
Source rdacontent
337 ## - MEDIA TYPE
Media type term computer
Media type code c
Source rdamedia
338 ## - CARRIER TYPE
Carrier type term online resource
Carrier type code cr
Source rdacarrier
500 ## - GENERAL NOTE
General note Issued as part of book collections on Project MUSE.
504 ## - BIBLIOGRAPHY, ETC. NOTE
Bibliography, etc. note Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-236).
505 0# - FORMATTED CONTENTS NOTE
Formatted contents note The ideology of automation -- The emergence of immaterial physicality -- The aura of the digital -- The immaterial commodity -- The valorization of the author -- The 'black box' of past experience -- The state of information -- The demands of agnotology=surveillance -- The scarcity of capital -- On immaterialism.
506 0# - RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS NOTE
Terms governing access Open Access
Standardized terminology for access restriction Unrestricted online access
Source of term star
520 ## - SUMMARY, ETC.
Summary, etc. Anything that can be automated, will be. The "magic" that digital technology has brought us -- self-driving cars, Bitcoin, high frequency trading, the internet of things, social networking, mass surveillance, the 2009 housing bubble -- has not been considered from an ideological perspective. The Critique of Digital Capitalism identifies how digital technology has captured contemporary society in a reification of capitalist priorities, and also describes digital capitalism as an ideologically "invisible" framework that is realized in technology. Written as a series of articles between 2003 and 2015, the book provides a broad critical scope for understanding the inherent demands of capitalist protocols for expansion without constraint (regardless of social, legal or ethical limits) that are increasingly being realized as autonomous systems that are no longer dependent on human labor or oversight and implemented without social discussion of their impacts. The digital illusion of infinite resources, infinite production, and no costs appears as an "end to scarcity," whereby digital production supposedly eliminates costs and makes everything equally available to everyone. This fantasy of production without consumption hides the physical costs and real-world impacts of these technologies. The critique introduced in this book develops from basic questions about how digital technologies directly change the structure of society: why is "Digital Rights Management" not only the dominant "solution" for distributing digital information, but also the only option being considered? During the burst of the "Housing Bubble" burst 2009, why were the immaterial commodities being traded of primary concern, but the actual physical assets and the impacts on the people living in them generally ignored? How do surveillance (pervasive monitoring) and agnotology (culturally induced ignorance or doubt, particularly the publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data) coincide as mutually reinforcing technologies of control and restraint? If technology makes the assumptions of its society manifest as instrumentality -- then what ideology is being realized in the form of the digital computer? This final question animates the critical framework this analysis proposes. Digital capitalism is a dramatically new configuration of the historical dynamics of production, labor and consumption that results in a new variant of historical capitalism. This contemporary, globalized network of production and distribution depends on digital capitalism's refusal of established social restraints: existing laws are an impediment to the transcendent aspects of digital technology. Its utopian claims mask its authoritarian result: the superficial "objectivity" of computer systems are supposed to replace established protections with machinic function -- the uniform imposition of whatever ideology informs the design. However, machines are never impartial: they reify the ideologies they are built to enact. The critical analysis of capitalist ideologies as they become digital is essential to challenging this process. Contesting their domination depends on theoretical analysis. This critique challenges received ideas about the relationship between labor, commodity production and value, in the process demonstrating how the historical Marxist analysis depends on assumptions that are no longer valid. This book therefore provides a unique, critical toolset for the analysis of digital capitalist hegemonics.
588 ## - SOURCE OF DESCRIPTION NOTE
Source of description note Description based on print version record.
650 #0 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name entry element Information society.
650 #0 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name entry element Capitalism
General subdivision Social aspects.
650 #0 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name entry element Information technology
General subdivision Political aspects.
650 #0 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name entry element Internet
General subdivision Social aspects.
650 #0 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name entry element Information technology
General subdivision Social aspects.
655 #7 - INDEX TERM--GENRE/FORM
Genre/form data or focus term Electronic books.
Source of term local
710 2# - ADDED ENTRY--CORPORATE NAME
Corporate name or jurisdiction name as entry element Project Muse,
Relator term distributor.
776 18 - ADDITIONAL PHYSICAL FORM ENTRY
Relationship information Print version:
International Standard Book Number 9780692598443
710 2# - ADDED ENTRY--CORPORATE NAME
Corporate name or jurisdiction name as entry element Project Muse.
Relator term distributor
830 #0 - SERIES ADDED ENTRY--UNIFORM TITLE
Uniform title Book collections on Project MUSE.
856 40 - ELECTRONIC LOCATION AND ACCESS
Public note Full text available:
Uniform Resource Identifier <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/book/76495/">https://muse.jhu.edu/book/76495/</a>

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