Rowman & Littlefield Publishers / Rowman & Littlefield International
Pages: 188
•
Trim: 6⅜ x 9½
978-1-5381-4431-2 • Hardback • February 2021 • $110.00 • (£85.00)
978-1-5381-4433-6 • eBook • February 2021 • $38.00 • (£29.00)
Jeremy Weissman is Mudd postdoctoral ethics fellow at the Roger Mudd Center at Washington and Lee University.
Introduction
Part I: Conformity
1. The Human Animal in Civilized Society
2. Social Media as an Escape from Freedom
3. Meaninglessness in the Present Age
Part II: Control
4. The Spectacular Power of the Public
5. 'P2P' Surveillance and Control
6. The Net of Noramlization
Part III: Resistance
7. Freedom from the Public Eye
8. Strategies of Resistance
Bibliography
Index
Jeremy Weissman’s chilling account of a future in which digital technology is fully enmeshed in the fabric of society and our human selves is no science fantasy. It is lucidly argued with enormous clarity and imagination. Warnings of this gripping book are informed by classical parables and centuries of philosophical thinking about human aspirations and ethical values combined with a unique grasp of on-the-ground realities of digital life.
— Helen Nissenbaum, professor of information science, Cornell Tech
To avoid dystopias you need to know what it takes to create them—how to engineer people to conform to harmful norms and participate in practices that erode freedom and perpetuate injustice. The Crowdsourced Panopticon presents a powerful philosophical warning for resisting the detrimental programmed behavior encouraged on social media and afforded by so-called smart devices.
— Evan Selinger, professor of philosophy, Rochester Institute of Technology
Social media and smart technologies are radically changing the ways humans envision themselves as individuals and in communities. Jeremy Weissman is one of the few who discerns both the exciting possibilities they offer while also recognizing where they may diminish rather than enhance what makes us fully human. This work exemplifies the best kind of ethical and policy analysis of emerging technologies.
— George Khushf, professor of philosophy, University of South Carolina