[ecrea] New book: The Age of Sharing by Nicholas John

I’m delighted to announce the publication of my book, The Age of Sharing 
<https://www.amazon.co.uk/Age-Sharing-Nicholas-John/dp/074566251X> (this 
takes you to UK Amazon; it’s not on sale in the US yet).
Culture Digitally has put up an excerpt: 
http://culturedigitally.org/2016/11/the-age-of-sharing-by-nicholas-john-an-excerpt
Polity has a short blog post: http://politybooks.com/the-age-of-sharing
If you order it from polity 
<http://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9780745662503>, you can use the 
code PY794 to get a 20% discount, or order an examination copy.

The blurb on the back says:

    Sharing is central to how we live today: it is what we do online; it
    is a model of economic behavior; and it is also a type of
    therapeutic talk. Sharing always comes with a warm glow around it,
    embodying positive values such as empathy, communication, fairness,
    openness and equality. The Age of Sharing shows how and when sharing
    became caring, and explains how its meanings have changed in the
    digital age.
    Sharing, though, is also a word used to camouflage commercial or
    even exploitive relations, leading many to bemoan that ‘It isn’t
    really sharing’. Websites say they share data with advertisers,
    though actually they sell it, while parts of the sharing economy
    look much like rental services. But /The Age of Sharing/ ultimately
    argues that practices described as sharing and critiques of those
    practices have common roots. Consequently, the powerful metaphor of
    sharing now constructs significant swathes of our social practices
    and provides the grounds for critiquing them; it is a mode of
    participation in the capitalist order and a way of resisting it.
    Taking in nineteenth century literature, Alcoholics Anonymous, the
    American counterculture, reality TV, hackers, Airbnb, Facebook and
    more, /The Age of Sharing/ offers a rich account of a complex
    contemporary keyword.

Nancy Baym <http://nancybaym.com/>, leading internet researcher, said this:

    “The word ‘sharing’ has become so ubiquitous that we rarely stop to
    inquire into its meanings, let alone the ideological work it does in
    the diverse contexts of its use. John’s engaging historical analysis
    of ‘sharing’ across three domains is essential reading, offering
    deep insight into the implicit values that shape our interactions
    and economies.”

And Russell Belk <http://schulich.yorku.ca/faculty/russell-w-belk/>, 
groundbreaking scholar of consumption, said:

    “/The Age of Sharing/ is an insightful and careful excavation of the
    concept and practice of sharing both material and immaterial things.
      It broadly interrogates primates and early humans to the latest
    social media and “sharing” apps, for clues about our basic human
    nature."



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