"This study is about ideologies as a form of discourse; i.e., as a culture of critical speech; i.e., as an elaborated sociolinguistic speech variant." -- Preface.

This edited collection analyzes the role of digital technology in contemporary society dialectically. While many authors, journalists, and commentators have argued that the internet and digital technologies will bring us democracy, equality, and freedom, digital culture often results in loss of privacy, misinformation, and exploitation. This collection challenges celebratory readings of digital technology by suggesting digital culture's potential is limited because of its fundamental relationship to oppressive social forces. The Dialectic of Digital Culture explores ways the digital realm challenges and reproduces power. The contributors provide innovative case studies of various phenomenon including #metoo, Etsy, mommy blogs, music streaming, sustainability, and net neutrality to reveal the reproduction of neoliberal cultural logics. In seemingly transformative digital spaces, these essays provide dialectical readings that challenge dominant narratives about technology and study specific aspects of digital culture that are often under explored. Check out the blog for more: http://blog.uta.edu/digitaldialectic

The study of ideology has traditionally been concerned not only with political ideas and doctrines, but also with the ways in which social relations are sustained through the representation of institutions and events. These traditional concerns have been transformed in recent years by investigations into the nature of language and its role in social life. Exploring the links between language and ideology has become one of the most pressing tasks of social and political analysis. In this volume John B. Thompson examines some of the outstanding contemporary contributions to the study of ideology. He focuses primarily on European social theorists and philosophers, providing concise and critical appraisals of their work. In addition to asessing the contributions of well-known thinkers, such as Jurgen Habermas and Paul Ricoeur, Thompson introduces the reader to a rich variety of authors who habe been neglected in the English-speaking world: Cornelius Castoriadis, Claude Lefort, Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Pecheux, Jean Pierre Faye. This work of these authors ia analyzed with a constructive aim: through a sympathetic assessment of their views, Thompson formulates the elements of a novel account of ideology. By addressing substantive and methodological issues as well as abstract questions of justification and critique, this account seeks to integrate sociological and philosophical considerations in a unified framework for the analysis of ideology. Studies in the Theory of Ideology will be essential reading for anyone intersted in the most important developments in European philosophy and modern social thought. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1984.

Scientists act within a social context and from a philosophical perspective that is inherently political. Whether they realize it or not, scientists always choose sides. The Dialectical Biologist explores this political nature of scientific inquiry, advancing its argument within the framework of Marxist dialectic. These essays stress the concepts of continual change and codetermination between organism and environment, part and whole, structure and process, science and politics. Throughout, this book questions our accepted definitions and biases, showing the self-reflective nature of scientific activity within society.