Essay topics and instructions
Below is a list of possible essay topics. Some themes are general, others are more particular. The topics on the list are just examples: the students can also write on a topic that they choose themselves.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: All essays are required to deal, one way or another, with some issue or issues that were covered in the course. Also, the essays should be connected to theoretical viewpoint(s) and discussions.
Some sources are mentioned after each topic. The students are encouraged to look for other sources, too, when writing their essays. Of course, libraries and the internet are filled with sources and material that are relevant to these topics and authors that deal with them.
Here is also a selected list of books that are relevant to essay topics. The principal source book for this course, Frank Webster's Theories of The Information Society (2nd edition 2002), is a good starting point for all of the themes.
If you pick a theme from the list below, you can also use a different title.
Topics:
1. The concept of “information society”
Discuss the merits and weak points of the concept of information society. What is meant by the term? Is the concept useful? Does it give an accurate description of the nature of societies today? Should it be used?
Sources:
Karvonen, Erkki (ed.): Informational Societies. Understanding the Third Industrial Revolution (2001)
Webster, Frank: Theories of The Information Society, 2nd edition (2002).
This theme is very general; look also for lecture notes and the selected list of books.
2. Techno-optimism vs. techno-criticism
Go through positive and negative perspectives on how information technology changes the society. Compare these different accounts and offer some thoughts of your own. You can go through many accounts (by different authors) or pick a couple of them. Or, you can pick one author and discuss his [sic] ideas.
Examples of authors that offer mainly optimistic accounts on the subject: Alvin Toffler (1) (2), Daniel Bell, John Naisbitt, Bill Gates, Yoneji Masuda, Nicholas Negroponte (1) (2).
Examples of authors that offer mainly critical accounts on the subject: Jacques Ellul, Herbert Schiller, Theodore Roszak, Cees Hamelink, Vincent Mosco.
You may also look at articles, available in the internet, by Douglas Kellner, who aims at a theoretical synthesis of both the positive and negative aspects of the information technology -related developments. See especially the following: http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/papers/theoryglob.htm
Other sources:
Bell, Daniel: The Coming of Post-Industrial Society (1973)
Ellul, Jacques: Technological Society (1964 / 1976)
Gates, Bill: The Road Ahead (1995)
Masuda, Yoneji: The Information Society as Post-Industrial society (1980)
Mosco, Vincent: Pushbutton fantasies (1982)
Naisbitt, John: Megatrends (1982); Megatrends 2000 (1990)
Negroponte, Nicholas: Being Digital (1995)
Roszak, Theodore: The Cult of Information (1986)
Schiller, Herbert: Mind Managers (1973); Information Inequality (1996); several other books
Tehranian, Majid: Technologies of power (1990)
Toffler, Alvin: Future Shock (1970); Third Wave (1980)
Webster, Frank: Theories of The Information Society, 2nd edition (2002).
3. Manuel Castells and the rise of the network society
Manuel Castells' writings on the network society are among the most discussed accounts of the "information society". Describe and discuss the central ideas of his works on the subject.
Sources:
Castells, Manuel: The Rise of the Network Society (1996; 2000, 2nd edition). (You may look for other books by the same author also.)
Webster, Frank: Theories of The Information Society, 2nd edition (2002), chapter 5
Articles in European Journal of Social Theory 3(1) 2000 offer criticism and discussion of Castells' ideas.
4. The end of mass production?
According to many contemporary sociological theories, new information technologies have changed production processes in many ways. Key words in these kinds of discussions are post-fordism, disorganized capitalism and flexible specialization. Describe and discuss these accounts.
Sources:
Castells, Manuel: The Rise of the Network Society (1996; 2000, 2nd edition).
Harvey, David: The Condition of Postmodernity (1989)
Kumar, Krishan: From Post-Industrial to Post-Modern Society (1995)
Lash, Scott & Urry, John: The End of Organized Capitalism (1987); Economies of Signs & Space (1994)
Webster, Frank: Theories of The Information Society, 2nd edition (2002)
5. The internet and society
The internet has impacted societies in various ways and more and more books and articles deal with the subject. How does the internet relate to contemporary social theories?
Sources:
Castells, Manuel: The Rise of the Network Society (1996; 2000, 2nd edition)
Slevin, James: The Internet and Society (2000)
And of course, you should look at the internet itself for sources on this one, too.
6. Globalization and information technology
Globalization is a theme which is closely connected to the discussions of the role of information technologies in society. Discuss the role of information technology in theories of globalization.
Sources:
Castells, Manuel: The Rise of the Network Society (1996; 2000, 2nd edition)
Giddens, Anthony: The Consequences of Modernity (1990); Runaway World (1999)
Held, David (et al.): Global Transformations (1999)
Kellner, Douglas: Theorizing Globalization (2003?) http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/papers/theoryglob.htm
Lash, Scott: Critique of Information (2002)
Lash, Scott & Urry, John: Economies of Signs & Space (1994)
Tomlinson, John: Globalization and Culture (1999)
Waters, Malcolm: Globalization (1995) (2nd edition 2001)
Webster, Frank: Theories of The Information Society, 2nd edition (2002)
7. Technological determinism
The concept of technological determinism comes up regularly in theories of information society and information technology. What is meant by the concept? How "technologically determinist" are different theories and accounts that were presented in the lectures?
Sources:
Kellner, Douglas: Theorizing Globalization (2003?) http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/papers/theoryglob.htm
Roe, Merrit & Marx, Leo (ed.): Does technology drive history? : the dilemma of technological determinism (1994)
Webster, Frank: Theories of The Information Society, 2nd edition (2002)
Winston, Brian: Media Technology and Society (1998), introduction.
Look also at topic #2 for sources.
8. Technology and social change
The central idea of the course was to look at different theories of societal change and how information technologies feature in these theories. For some authors, changes in information technology signal a new kind of society, while others stress on the continuity of past social forms, especially that of capitalism. Compare different perspectives and offer your own commentary.
Sources:
Webster, Frank: Theories of The Information Society, 2nd edition (2002)
This theme is very general; look also for lecture notes and the selected list of books.
9. Information technology and culture
As Frank Webster points out, discussions around new information technologies are connected also to cultural issues. How has this technology affected culture and how is this being reflected in social and cultural theories? How do theories of postmodernism relate to this discussion?
Sources:
Best, Steven & Kellner, Douglas: Postmodern Theory: Critical Interrogations (1991), chapter 1: In Search of the Postmodern
http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/pomo/ch1.html
Castells, Manuel: The Rise of the Network Society (1996; 2000, 2nd edition), chapter 5.
Harvey, David: The Condition of Postmodernity (1989)
Held, David (et al.): Global Transformations (1999), chapter 7.
Jameson, Fredric: Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (1991)
Poster, Mark: Mode of Information: Poststructuralism and Social Context (1990); The Second Media Age (1995)
Lash, Scott & Urry, John: Economies of Signs & Space (1994)
Webster, Frank: Theories of The Information Society, 2nd edition (2002), esp. chapter 9.