Inhabiting Cyberspace and Emerging Cyberplaces: The Case of Siena, Italy (Geographies of Media)

This book explores the concept of cyberplace as a mode of inhabiting the contemporary world. As a result, it suggests that, for many communities, unlocking cyberspace and inhabiting cyberplaces is now an integral part of their coming-to-the-globalised-world. Boos reviews in the detail the existing academic literature from cultural anthropology, human geography, and sociology on “cyberspace”, concluding that a phenomenological perspective on cyberspace provides the possibility of gaining a deep understanding of our contemporary lifeworlds, in which on- and offline practices constantly intermingle. In four chapters, he applies the developed theoretical and methodological approaches to the case of Siena’s neighbourhoods, the __contrade__, analysing their websites and discussing the implications of his findings for understanding contemporary processes of community building and for future research on cyberspace.This concise and accessible book will be of interest to advanced students and scholars in cultural anthropology, human geography, media studies and sociology. This book explores the concept of cyberplace as a mode of inhabiting the contemporary world. As a result, it suggests that, for many communities, unlocking cyberspace and inhabiting cyberplaces is now an integral part of their coming-to-the-globalised-world. Boos reviews in the detail the existing academic literature from cultural anthropology, human geography, and sociology on “cyberspace”, concluding that a phenomenological perspective on cyberspace provides the possibility of gaining a deep understanding of our contemporary lifeworlds, in which on- and offline practices constantly intermingle. In four chapters, he applies the developed theoretical and methodological approaches to the case of Siena’s neighbourhoods, the contrade , analysing their websites and discussing the implications of his findings for understanding contemporary processes of community building and for future research on cyberspace. This concise and accessible book will be of interest to advanced students and scholars in cultural anthropology, human geography, media studies and sociology. This book explores the concept of cyberplace as a mode of inhabiting the contemporary world. As a result, it suggests that, for many communities, unlocking cyberspace and inhabiting cyberplaces is now an integral part of their coming-to-the-globalised-world. Boos reviews in the detail the existing academic literature from cultural anthropology, human geography, and sociology on zcyberspacey, concluding that a phenomenological perspective on cyberspace provides the possibility of gaining a deep understanding of our contemporary lifeworlds, in which on- and offline practices constantly intermingle. In four chapters, he applies the developed theoretical and methodological approaches to the case of Siena's neighbourhoods, the contrade, analysing their websites and discussing the implications of his findings for understanding contemporary processes of community building and for future research on cyberspace. This concise and accessible book will be of interest to advanced students and scholars in cultural anthropology, human geography, media studies and sociology Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii Introduction (Tobias Boos)....Pages 1-11 Geographies of Cyberspace: Internet, Community, Space, and Place (Tobias Boos)....Pages 13-38 Unfolding Cyberspace: A Phenomenological Approach to Cyberplace, Technology, and Community (Tobias Boos)....Pages 39-57 Methodology and Methods for Analysing Websites (Tobias Boos)....Pages 59-71 The Contemporary Contrade of Siena (Tobias Boos)....Pages 73-78 The Symbolical Realm and Historical Framework of the Contrade (Tobias Boos)....Pages 79-85 The Websites of the Contrade (Tobias Boos)....Pages 87-95 The Content of the Websites: Emergence of Intimate Cyberplaces (Tobias Boos)....Pages 97-109 Unfolding Cyberspace: Cyberplaces of the Contrade and the Style of Representation in the Global Arena (Tobias Boos)....Pages 111-119 Inhabiting Cyberspace and Emerging Cyberplaces (Tobias Boos)....Pages 121-127 Back Matter ....Pages 129-135 Tobias Boos. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.