Publisher's Synopsis
Like the invention of the printing press, the Internet is radically transforming the most basic elements of modern civilization. The growing presence of digital technologies and the dramatic impact of networked collaboration constitute a new mode of information production that is reshaping many societies around the world. Underlying this socioeconomic restructuring is the critical importance of digital networks as platforms for creativity and innovation. This edited collection examines the current ways that mass collaboration intersects with sociocultural, technosocial and political changes in varied contexts, and questions their impact on established institutions and modes of production. New tools inevitably engender changes in the way people interact, communicate and collaborate; however, it is increasingly clear that information and communication technologies are now leveraging a democratic shift in a wide array of technological, political and social spaces. The dramatic success of mass collaboration in a multitude of contexts poses a challenge, not only to the dominant economic paradigm, but also to a broad range of received social science thinking. This collection interrogates established theories and concepts in the light of recent developments and builds upon emergent research and original empirical findings.
