The Pathology of Communicative Capitalism

By: David W. Hill

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Synopsis: This book diagnoses the social, mental and political consequences of working and economic organizations that generate value from communication. It is argued that cognitive labour is now a key productive force in the economy, bringing with it precarious working conditions in the form of impermanence, fragmentation and the immeasurability of work time; that the constant attentive stress of productive communication is pushing society over the brink of an urgent mental health crisis; and that in both our social and working lives we are being constrained into forms of communication that are less empathetic and communal. How can we resist these pathologies of communicative capitalism? In posing such a question it is necessary to rethink the role of communication technologies in order to imagine a healthier and altogether fairer society.