Reshaping Communications: Technology, Information and Social Change

Thirty years ago, one writer complained that ′to admire technology is all out of fashion′. Today excited claims are made for the impact that these technologies are having on social, political and economic life. But how are we to assess these claims? This book critically interrogates many of the prevailing ideas offers a fresh perspective on this new `digital age′. Reshaping Communications: - Provides an alternative and more grounded account of the complex interplay between new technology and information structures and changes in society - Illuminates the fundamental continuities as well as changes in socioeconomic and political processes -Draws on an interdisciplinary perspective and original empirical research. The book will be essential reading for all those concerned with the new communication technologies, including students of media and communications as well as policy-makers

Paschal Preston holds a research professorship in the School of Communications in Dublin City University. Paschal Preston is the founding director of the COMTEC research unit. Founded in 1991, COMTEC was one of the first social science research centres in the Irish university sector. COMTEC now has a distinguished 20-year record of successful collaborative and multi-country research projects. For more on COMTEC, click here. Paschal Preston is also a member of the Society, Information and Media (SIM) research centre. SIM was established in 2005 to embrace the broad research interests of staff in the School of Communication, including those engaged in media practice as well as academic research on media production, policy and consumption issues.