Critical Theory of the Internet: The Importance of Raymond Williams, Dallas Smythe, and Herbert Marcuse Today

Abstract

This keynote talk discusses some foundations of a critical theory of the Internet. It visits three specific critical theories of the media, communication, technology, culture and society: works by Raymond Williams, Dallas Smythe, and Herbert Marcuse. It argues that insights of these thinkers can form foundations for a critical theory of the Internet. All three thinkers have had profound influence on my own work and thought, which is especially evident in two of my recent books: Digital Labour and Karl Marx (2014) and Culture and Economy in the Age of Social Media (2015). I will also talk about these works in this presentation. Christian Fuchs is Professor of at the University of Westminster’s Communication and Media Research Institute (http://www.westminster.ac.uk/camri), one of Britain’s leading institutions in this field. He is also director of the Centre for Social Media Research (http://www.westminster.ac.uk/csmr), editor of the journal tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique (http://www.triple-c.at), Vice-Chair of the EU COST Action Dynamics of Virtual Work, Chair of the European Sociological Association’s Research Network 18 – Sociology of Communications and Media Research, and author of books such as Culture and Economy in the Age of Social Media, Digital Labour and Karl Marx, Social Media: A Critical Introduction, OccupyMedia!, The Occupy Movement and Social Media in Crisis Capitalism, Foundations of Critical Media and Information Studies, Internet and Society: Social Theory in the Information Age. Twitter @fuchschristian Website: http://fuchs.uti.at Most recent books: Culture and Economy in the Age of Social Media: http://www.routledge.com/u/routledge/9781138839311 Digital Labour and Karl Marx: http://www.routledge.com/u/routledge/9780415716161