[Air-L] No Such Thing as a Free Book: The Fifth Estate with Apologies

[William Dutton]

Dear Colleagues,

I meant to ask if I may post a bit about my book, The Fifth Estate. As you must realise, I cannot send everyone a free copy. What I wanted to say is: please ask your library to consider obtaining a copy so that you can read it freely. I think it is very relevant to those on this network of internet researchers.

William H. Dutton, The Fifth Estate: The Power Shift of the Digital Age. New York: Oxford University Press, 2023.

My book on the Fifth Estate pulls together research and examples to make a case for the internet and related media and communication technologies enabling the most important power shift of the digital age. Put simply, a network power shift has been driven by enabling ordinary people to search, originate, network, collaborate, and leak information in ways than enhance their informational and communicative power. In such ways, the internet is empowering many ordinary individuals to form a more independent collectivity of networked individuals—a Fifth Estate. This network power shift is not only enabling greater democratic accountability in politics and governance but is also empowering networked individuals in their everyday life and work.

It has been endorsed as my “most important book” (by Manuel Castells), a “compelling work” (Victoria Nash), and one that “restores lost optimism about the democratic potential of digital media” (Eli Noam). A most wonderful review cites it as “one of the most important monographs by anyone in the last 20 years” (Alistair Duff)! I hope these views tweak your curiosity sufficiently to read this book, recommend it to your librarian, and consider it for any courses on the political and other societal implications of digital media, information, and communication technologies.  

My book is one volume in Professor Andrew Chadwick’s series, entitled Oxford Studies in Digital Politics. You can read his blog about the book here: https://www.andrewchadwick.com/blog/2023/6/19/guest-post-william-h-dutton-on-his-new-book-the-fifth-estate-the-power-shift-of-the-digital-age

The book’s table of contents might be helpful as well:

Introduction: Reconfiguring Informational and Communicative Power
Part I.   The Foundations of the Fifth Estate
1.         The Idea and Evidence of a Fifth Estate
2.         Fifth Estate Theories of Distributed and Network Power
Part II.  Fifth Estate Strategies
3.         Searching
4.         Originating
5.         Networking
6.         Collaborating
7.         Leaking
Part III. Shaping the Future of the Fifth Estate
8.         A Power Shift for Democracy and Society
9.         Threats to the Fifth Estate
10.      The Future of the Fifth Estate

In conclusion, my apologies you are not receiving a free copy. You would if I could, and please respond to me personally with any comments or questions, as I am getting complaints about all the emails going to the whole network. 

Sincerely,

Bill

William H. Dutton 
55 Victoria Road
Oxford OX2 7QF
United Kingdom

william.dutton at gmail.com
Twitter @BiIIDutton (II=two capital ii’s)

Phone: +44 (0)1865 423836
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Blog: https://billdutton.me