[Commlist] New Book: Marx and Digital Machines: Alienation, Technology and Capitalism for Commlist

New open access book publication:

Marx and Digital Machines:

Alienation, Technology and Capitalism
Mike Healy

This book explores the fundamental contradiction at the heart of the 
digital environment: technology offers all manner of promises, yet 
habitually fails to deliver. This failure often arises from numerous 
problems: the proficiency of the technology or end-user, policy failure 
at various levels, or a combination of these. Solutions such as better 
technology and more effective end-user education are often put into 
place to solve these failures. Mike Healy argues that such approaches 
are inherently faulty drawing upon qualitative research informed by 
Marx’s theory of alienation. Using Marx’s theory, he considers 
participants in three distinct settings: the workplace of information 
and communications technology (ICT) professionals; university scholars 
researching the ethical and societal implications of our digital 
environment; and a group of pensioners living in South London, UK, 
undertaking ICT training. By delving beneath the surface of how digital 
technologies are created, researched and experienced, this study 
illustrates the contradictory nature of our digital lives, as they 
directly arise from the needs of capitalism. The book also places Marx’s 
theory in contrast to the mainstream approaches derived from Seaman and 
Blauner. In researching and comprehending ICT, this book reaffirms the 
superior explanatory power of Marx’s theory of alienation.

Contents

1. Introduction: Contractions of ICT

2. Theories of Alienation – Seeman and Marx

3. Researching Alienation

4. Alienation and Work: ICT Professionals

5. Researching ICT: The Scholars’ Alienated Experience

6. Alienation and Work: A Common View

7. ICT, Senior End-users and Alienation

8. Critique and Conclusion

NotesBibliography

Author

Mike Healy**is an independent researcher, was previously a Senior 
Lecturer at Westminster Business School, University of Westminster. His 
published work includes papers on ethics and ICT, diversity and 
employment in the ICT sector, problems of e-government and (using Marx’s 
theory of alienation) dignity in the IT sector. He is currently 
researching Covid-19 and digital technologies.

Open Access

PDF, ePub and kindle versions available free from 
uwestminsterpress.co.uk/site books:

PDF 978-1-912656-80-6 ePub 978-1 912656-81-3 Kindle978-1-912656-82-0

DOI: 10.16997/book47

Format 170 pages 229 x 152mm

Paperback978-1-912656-79-0

UK£19.99 US$24.95EUR €21 CAN $30 AUS $34

Subjects

Communication Studies |Science and Technology Studies| Science and 
Technology Studies

Published open access by the University of Westminster Press

https://www.uwestminsterpress.co.uk/site/books/10.16997/book47

Published 16 October 2020
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