Nexus: New Intersections in Internet Research

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.

Daniel Araya is a doctoral candidate in educational policy studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The focus of his research is the confluence of digital technologies and cultural globalization on systems of education. He has published widely on subjects related to the knowledge economy and peer-to-peer collaboration and is currently editing two books exploring the socioeconomic impact of digital technologies.
Yana Breindl is a PhD candidate in information and communication sciences at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Belgium. Her academic work deals with digital activism that aims at influencing European decision-making.
Tessa J. Houghton is a scholarship doctoral candidate in media and communication at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. Her research investigates hacktivism through a neo-Habermasian model of the public sphere, following the radical or agonistic theoretical tradition.