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The debate surrounding the transformation of work at the hands of digital technology and the anxieties brought forth by automation, the sharing economy, and the exploitation of leisure
We have been told that digital technology is now threatening the workplace as we know it, that advances in computing and robotics will soon make human labor obsolete, that the sharing economy, exemplified by Uber and Airbnb, will degrade the few jobs that remain, and that the boundaries between work and play are collapsing as Facebook and Instagram infiltrate our free time.
In this timely critique, Greg Goldberg examines the fear that work is being eviscerated by digital technology. He argues that it is not actually the degradation or disappearance of work that is so troubling, but rather the underlying notion that society itself is under attack, and more specifically the bonds of responsibility on which social relations depend. Rather than rushing to the defense of the social, however, Goldberg instead imagines the appeal of refusing the hard work of being a responsible and productive member of society.
— Lucas Hilderbrand, author of Inherent Vice: Bootleg Histories of Videotape and Copyright
"Smart, perverse, disorientingAntisocial Media resists a desire for 'the social' in pursuit of more surprising, and radical, connections. As a serious theorist and playful sociologist, Goldberg challenges readers to question the normative demand to work, and recognize the anxious affect structuring contemporary critiques of digitally-mediated shifts in labor and leisure. Rarely has queer thought risked being so irresponsible, and so insistently pleasurable."
— Jackie Orr, author of Panic Diaries: A Geneaology of Panic Disorder
"Antisocial Media presents a timely discussion of the relationship among work, technologies, and sociality...It also challenges the public and researchers to question power relations embedded in critiques of technologies."
"It is evident that Goldberg is a superb teacher—when ideas are posited, Goldberg concisely explains their origin and the stakes. Not only is this useful for building interdisciplinary coalitions, but it reads as a work that would be useful for students—at both the undergraduate and graduate level—who would benefit from contextualization in order to advance in the fields with which Goldberg is in conversation: media studies, affect studies, and queer theory, among others. Moreover, it is a book I would recommend to friends and acquaintances who have inquiring minds but bemoan what they consider to be impenetrable academic writing."
"Antisocial Media is a useful resource for those seeking a broad strokes overview of the discussions surrounding playbor, automation, and the sharing economy, and the critique can provide some interesting food for thought."