{"title":"Jennifer Helene Maher","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJennifer Helene Maher\u003c\/strong\u003e delves into the intersections of technology, society, and ethics, offering insightful perspectives on the cultural impact of scientific advancements. Her work often explores how technical fields shape and are shaped by moral considerations, providing a nuanced understanding of science in a broader human context.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReaders interested in the social dimensions of science and nature will find Maher’s writing thought-provoking and accessible. Her approach bridges the gap between scientific discourse and cultural critique, making her contributions essential for those curious about the rhetoric behind technological progress.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"software-evangelism-and-the-rhetoric-of-morality-by-jennifer-helene-maher-9780415704243","title":"Software Evangelism and the Rhetoric of Morality","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExamining the layers of meaning encoded in software and the rhetoric surrounding it, this book offers a much-needed perspective on the intersections between software, morality, and politics.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn software development culture, \u003cem\u003eevangelism\u003c\/em\u003e typically denotes a rhetorical practice that aims to convert software developers, as well as non-technical lay users, from one platform to another (e.g., from the operating system Microsoft Windows to Linux). \u003cem\u003eSoftware Evangelism and the Rhetoric of Morality\u003c\/em\u003e argues that software evangelism, like its religious counterpart, must also be understood as constructing moral and political values that extend well beyond the boundaries of the development culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eUnlike previous studies that locate such values in the effects of code in-use or in certain types of code like free and open source (FOSS) software, Maher argues that all code is meaningful beyond its technical, executable functions. To facilitate this analysis, this study builds a theory of evangelism and illustrates this theory at work in the proprietary software industry and FOSS communities.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs an example of political liberalism at work at the level of code, these evangelical rhetorics of software construct competing conceptions of what is good that fall within a shared belief in what is just. Maher illustrates how these beliefs in goodness and justice do not always execute in replicable ways, as the different ways of decoding software evangelisms in the contexts of Brazil and China reveal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDemonstrating how software evangelisms exert a transformative force on the world, one comparable in significance to code itself, this book highlights the importance of rhetoric in even the most seemingly a-rhetorical of technical endeavours and foregrounds the crucial need for rhetorical literacy in the digital age.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Taylor \u0026 Francis","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47607772807404,"sku":"9780415704243","price":247.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/d1357ebbcc290fae33c025d3680c2de7.jpg?v=1778187863"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/jennifer-helene-maher.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}