Christian Fuchs

World politics has become highly polarised. We live in times when a new world war has become more likely. The United Nations’ 2024 Pact for the Future expresses concerns about ”the growing risks of a nuclear war which could pose an existential threat to humanity“. Will humanity descend into barbarism and world war, or will we realise the dangers of our global problems, weapons of mass destruction, and the threats posed by a potential new world war and a climate catastrophe in order to avoid annihilation and create perpetual world peace? This book deals with violence, world war, and world peace in global digital capitalism. It asks: How do violence and war manifest themselves in global digital capitalism? How do digital capitalism and digital technologies manifest themselves in violence and warfare? What are the prospects for world peace today? In order to prevent world war and advance world peace, we need a better understanding of war and violence and of their contexts and causes. We need to ask what war is, what violence is, what war and peace look like today and how they have changed in the 21st century. The changes of capitalism have shaped violence and warfare. This book addresses these tasks. It provides possible answers to the questions just posed.

You will never look at social media the same way again. Social media are an integral part of contemporary society. From news, warfare, politics, advertising, consumption, entertainment, friendships, labour, and economy to friendships, leisure, language, and everyday life, they have changed the way we communicate, use information and understand the world. Social media shape and are shaped by contemporary society. In order to understand contemporary society we have to ask critical questions about social media. This book is the ultimate guide for digging deeper into issues of ownership, power, class, and (in)justice. This book equips you with a critical understanding of the complexities and contradictions at the heart of social media’s relationship with society. The Fourth Edition contains new chapters and has updated and revised versions of other chapters: · The book includes a new chapter on TikTok in the context of global capitalism and the geopolitical conflict between China and the USA. · It explores new topics such as information and social media warfare in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the implications of Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter for democracy and the public sphere, the prospects of Twitter-alternative Mastodon, digital fascism, influencers and the attention economy on TikTok, digital capitalism, the role of big data in digital capitalism, The Public Service Media and Public Service Internet Manifesto, social media’s digital alienation, and Putinism and information warfare. · It explores populism, racism, nationalism, militant patriarchy in a chapter on right-wing authoritarianism on social media that includes two case studies of Donald Trump and Putinism. · It analyses the phenomenon of social media influencers in the age of TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat. · It explains in an updated chapter what digital capitalism is and what role big data plays in it. · It explores the growing prominence of platforms and platform capitalism. · It analyses fake news, misinformation, and surveillance capitalism in the context of Facebook, WhatsApp, Cambridge Analytica, and the Internet Research Agency. · It shows why Google is simultaneously the Internet’s God and Satan. · It discusses digital democracy and the digital public sphere in the context of Twitter. · It challenges you to envision and achieve a truly social media that serves the purposes of a just and fair world. · It introduces platform co-operatives and the Public Service Internet. There are winners and losers in the age of digital capitalism. This book is an essential guide for anyone who wants to critically understand how we got to digital capitalism and capitalist social media, what we can do about it, and what a democratic public sphere looks like.

You will never look at social media the same way again. Social media are an integral part of contemporary society. From news, warfare, politics, advertising, consumption, entertainment, friendships, labour, and economy to friendships, leisure, language, and everyday life, they have changed the way we communicate, use information and understand the world. Social media shape and are shaped by contemporary society. In order to understand contemporary society we have to ask critical questions about social media. This book is the ultimate guide for digging deeper into issues of ownership, power, class, and (in)justice. This book equips you with a critical understanding of the complexities and contradictions at the heart of social media’s relationship with society. The Fourth Edition contains new chapters and has updated and revised versions of other chapters: · The book includes a new chapter on TikTok in the context of global capitalism and the geopolitical conflict between China and the USA. · It explores new topics such as information and social media warfare in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the implications of Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter for democracy and the public sphere, the prospects of Twitter-alternative Mastodon, digital fascism, influencers and the attention economy on TikTok, digital capitalism, the role of big data in digital capitalism, The Public Service Media and Public Service Internet Manifesto, social media’s digital alienation, and Putinism and information warfare. · It explores populism, racism, nationalism, militant patriarchy in a chapter on right-wing authoritarianism on social media that includes two case studies of Donald Trump and Putinism. · It analyses the phenomenon of social media influencers in the age of TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat. · It explains in an updated chapter what digital capitalism is and what role big data plays in it. · It explores the growing prominence of platforms and platform capitalism. · It analyses fake news, misinformation, and surveillance capitalism in the context of Facebook, WhatsApp, Cambridge Analytica, and the Internet Research Agency. · It shows why Google is simultaneously the Internet’s God and Satan. · It discusses digital democracy and the digital public sphere in the context of Twitter. · It challenges you to envision and achieve a truly social media that serves the purposes of a just and fair world. · It introduces platform co-operatives and the Public Service Internet. There are winners and losers in the age of digital capitalism. This book is an essential guide for anyone who wants to critically understand how we got to digital capitalism and capitalist social media, what we can do about it, and what a democratic public sphere looks like.

This essential guide to the critical study of the media economy in society teaches students how to critically analyse the political economy of communication and the media.The book introduces a variety of methods and topics, including the political economy of communication in capitalism, the political economy of media concentration, the political economy of advertising, the political economy of global media and transnational media corporations, class relations and working conditions in the capitalist media and communication industry, the political economy of the Internet and digital media, the information society and digital capitalism, the public sphere, Public Service Media, the Public Service Internet, and the political economy of media management. This will be an ideal textbook for a variety of courses relating to media and communication, including Media Economics; Political Economy of Communication; Media, Culture, and Society; Critical Media and Communication Studies; Media Sociology; Media Management; and Media Business Studies.

This essential guide to the critical study of the media economy in society teaches students how to critically analyse the political economy of communication and the media.The book introduces a variety of methods and topics, including the political economy of communication in capitalism, the political economy of media concentration, the political economy of advertising, the political economy of global media and transnational media corporations, class relations and working conditions in the capitalist media and communication industry, the political economy of the Internet and digital media, the information society and digital capitalism, the public sphere, Public Service Media, the Public Service Internet, and the political economy of media management. This will be an ideal textbook for a variety of courses relating to media and communication, including Media Economics; Political Economy of Communication; Media, Culture, and Society; Critical Media and Communication Studies; Media Sociology; Media Management; and Media Business Studies.

This sixth volume in Christian Fuchs' Media, Communication and Society series draws on radical Humanist theory to address questions around the digital public sphere and the challenges and opportunities for digital democracy today. The book discusses topics such as digital democracy, the digital public sphere, digital alienation, sustainability in digital democracy, journalism and democracy, public service media, the public service Internet, and democratic communications. Fuchs argues for the creation of a public service Internet run by public serviceMedia that consists of platforms such as a public service YouTube and Club 2.0, a renewed digital democracy and digital public sphere version of the legendary debate programme formats Club 2 and After Dark. Overall, the book presents foundations and analyses of digital democracy that are interesting for both students and researchers in media studies, cultural studies, communication studies, political science, sociology, Internet research, information science, as well as related disciplines.

This sixth volume in Christian Fuchs' Media, Communication and Society series draws on radical Humanist theory to address questions around the digital public sphere and the challenges and opportunities for digital democracy today. The book discusses topics such as digital democracy, the digital public sphere, digital alienation, sustainability in digital democracy, journalism and democracy, public service media, the public service Internet, and democratic communications. Fuchs argues for the creation of a public service Internet run by public serviceMedia that consists of platforms such as a public service YouTube and Club 2.0, a renewed digital democracy and digital public sphere version of the legendary debate programme formats Club 2 and After Dark. Overall, the book presents foundations and analyses of digital democracy that are interesting for both students and researchers in media studies, cultural studies, communication studies, political science, sociology, Internet research, information science, as well as related disciplines.

This fifth volume in Christian Fuchs’s Media, Communication and Society series presents foundations and applications of digital ethics based on critical theory. It applies a critical approach to ethics within the realm of digital technology.Based on the notions of alienation, communication (in)justice, media (in)justice, and digital (in)justice, it analyses ethics in the context of digital labour and the surveillance-industrial complex; social media research ethics; privacy on Facebook; participation, co-operation, and sustainability in the information society; the digital commons; the digital public sphere; and digital democracy. The book consists of three parts. Part I presents some of the philosophical foundations of critical, humanist digital ethics. Part II applies these foundations to concrete digital ethics case studies. Part III presents broad conclusions about how to advance the digital commons, the digital public sphere, and digital democracy, which is the ultimate goal of digital ethics.This book is essential reading for both students and researchers in media, culture, communication studies, and related disciplines.

This fifth volume in Christian Fuchs’s Media, Communication and Society series presents foundations and applications of digital ethics based on critical theory. It applies a critical approach to ethics within the realm of digital technology.Based on the notions of alienation, communication (in)justice, media (in)justice, and digital (in)justice, it analyses ethics in the context of digital labour and the surveillance-industrial complex; social media research ethics; privacy on Facebook; participation, co-operation, and sustainability in the information society; the digital commons; the digital public sphere; and digital democracy. The book consists of three parts. Part I presents some of the philosophical foundations of critical, humanist digital ethics. Part II applies these foundations to concrete digital ethics case studies. Part III presents broad conclusions about how to advance the digital commons, the digital public sphere, and digital democracy, which is the ultimate goal of digital ethics.This book is essential reading for both students and researchers in media, culture, communication studies, and related disciplines.