Marx and Digital Machines: Alienation, Technology, Capitalism (Critical, Digital and Social Media Studies)

This book explores the fundamental contradiction at the heart of the digital environment: technology offers all manner of promises, yet habitually fails to deliver. This failure often arises from numerous problems: the proficiency of the technology or end-user, policy failure at various levels, or a combination of these. Solutions such as better technology and more effective end-user education are often put into place to solve these failures. Mike Healy argues that such approaches are inherently faulty drawing upon qualitative research informed by Marx's theory of alienation. Using Marx's theory, he considers participants in three distinct settings: the workplace of information and communications technology (ICT) professionals; university scholars researching the ethical and societal implications of our digital environment; and a group of pensioners living in South London, UK, undertaking ICT training. By delving beneath the surface of how digital technologies are created, researched and experienced, this study illustrates the contradictory nature of our digital lives, as they directly arise from the needs of capitalism. The book also places Marx's theory in contrast to the mainstream approaches derived from Seaman and Blauner. In researching and comprehending ICT, this book reaffirms the superior explanatory power of Marx's theory of alienation. Cover Series Title page Contents Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: Contradictions of ICT 1.1 Introduction 2. Theories of Alienation - Seeman and Marx 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The Seeman Model 2.3 Alienation - the Marxist Perspective 2.4 Alienation and Reification 2.5 Blauner and Alienation 2.6 Wendling and Alienation 2.7 Autonomist Marxism and Alienation 3. Researching Alienation 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Data Collection Process 3.3 Participatory Action Research (PAR) 3.4 Target Group: ICT Professionals 3.5 Target Group: Scholars 3.6 Target Group: End-Users 3.7 Ethical Considerations 4. Alienation and work: ICT Professionals 4.1 Introduction 4.2 The Meaning of Professionalism 4.3 Current Research on ICT Professionals 4.4 The State of the IT Industry 4.5 The Alienated Working Environment of the ICT Professional 4.6 Control of the Work Process 4.7 Relationships with Professionals Working for Other Companies 4.8 Re-engineering the Work Process 4.9 The Management 4.10 Issues of Validation, Reliability, Bias and Ethics 4.11 Issues of Validation, Reliability, Bias and Ethics 4.12 Conclusion 5. Researching ICT: The Scholars’ Alienated Experience 5.1 Introduction 5.2 The Academic Environment 5.3 Alienation Theory in Education 5.4 The Scholars’ Perspective 5.5. The Participants 5.6 Commitment to the Subject 5.7 Creativity 5.8 Collaboration 5.9 Research and Competition 5.10 Control of Outcomes 5.11 Institutional Pressures 5.12 Analysis 5.13 Issues of Validation, Reliability, Bias and Ethics 5.14 Conclusion 6. Alienation and Work: A Common View 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Career Change? 6.3 Greater Choice? 6.4 Analysis 6.5 Conclusion 7. ICT, Senior End-users and Alienation 7.1 Introduction 7.2 ICT and the Senior User: Research Themes 7.3 ICT and Learning 7.4 Southwark Pensioners Action Group (SPAG) 7.5 The Group Sessions and Individual Interview Processes 7.6 The Hands-on Sessions 7.8 Motivations 7.9 Alienated Attitudes Towards the Technology: A Shared Sentiment 7.10 Who’s this Technology Designed for? 7.11 Consequences of Lack of Control 7.12 Practical Benefits of the Hands-on Sessions 7.13 Intangible Benefits 7.14 Barriers 7.15 Unanticipated Developments 8. Critique and Conclusion 8.1 Introduction 8.2 A Moment of Self-Reflection 8.3 Concluding Remarks: Resolving the Problem of Alienation Notes Bibliography Index