Science, Technology and Society

Examining the environmental impacts of digitalisation in smart cities, this book asks how we can reconcile the adoption of smart technologies into sustainable projects.

It traces the material and environmental costs of daily realities for smart cities and asks how promises are broken when cities become ‘smart.’

This book offers an in-depth investigation into the digitizsation processes of Europe’s border regime.

With a focus on the European Union agency eu-LISA, one of the most significant actors in the digital border regime, it shows how sociotechnical imaginations drives the future of borders and European governance of mobility.

In this Byte, the contributions consider the way that digitally meditated social processes are transforming institutions. It examines the interconnectedness of institutions and considers digitization across schooling, work, and media, with an eye on inequality.

The ‘smart city’ is often promoted as a technology-driven solution to complex urban issues. Drawing on original research conducted in urban African settings, this book provides a much-needed alternative view, exploring how ‘home-grown’ digital disruption, driven and initiated by local actors, upending the mainstream corporate narrative.

How do we engage with the threat of social and environmental degradation while creating and maintaining liveable and just worlds? Researchers from diverse backgrounds unpack this question through a series of original and committed contributions to this wide-ranging volume.

This interdisciplinary collection rethinks the political economy of the digital market by asking what came before platforms and suggesting what might come after them. Addressing themes like internet decolonisation, the book makes a timely assessment of the impact of evolving connections between technology, information, society and markets.

This book considers the social, legal and technological features of unauthorised dissemination of intimate images. With a focus on private law theory, the book defines the appropriate scope of liability of platforms and viewers. Through its analysis, it develops a new theory of egalitarian digital privacy.

EPUB and EPDF available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

This thought-provoking collection redefines the boundaries of moral responsibility. It shows how epigenetics reveals connections between our genetic make-up and our environment. The essays suggest a shift in focus from individual to collective responsibility.

Identifying a pattern of risky experimentation with automated systems in the Home Office, this book outlines precautionary measures that are essential to ensure that society benefits from government automation without exposing individuals to unacceptable risks.

As the crisis of expertise continues to be a global issue, this book shows that it is not a ‘scientific’ controversy, but an ideological dispute with believers on both sides. If the advocates of consensus science acknowledge the uncertainties of even the best science, it is possible to open a pathway towards communication between world views.

This stimulating analysis from Hannes Gerhardt shows how technology-led and commons-oriented strategies can create fairer economies and societies. Setting out the role of various digital tools with concrete examples of their value, it is a constructive and optimistic guide to overcoming anti-capitalist barriers.