Failure

Name: Failure
Brand: Unknown
SKU: 9781509504725
Price: 30.99 NZD
Availability: InStock

By Neta Alexander and Arjun Appadurai

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3.8

( 20 ratings, 3 reviews)

Summary

Failure explores the paradox of scarcity in the worlds of Wall Street and Silicon Valley, critiquing the illusion that scarcity can be entirely eliminated. Authors Neta Alexander and Arjun Appadurai analyse habitual and strategic failures through the lenses of debt, crisis, digital divides, and connectivity. Bridging the planned obsolescence of digital technologies with the logic of 'too big to fail' during the Great Recession, they reveal how failure produces genuine disappointment yet is often forgotten. The book presents a multilayered theory of failure, denial, memory, and emerging systems of control.
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Format: Paperback / softback

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Failure

$30⁹⁹

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for readers interested in social theory, digital culture, economics, and contemporary critiques of capitalism. Academics, students, and intellectually curious professionals exploring technology, finance, and societal change will find it particularly valuable.

"Failure explores the deeply troubling paradox by which the more technological and financial systems fail us, the more dependent on them we become. The authors propose a theory of habitual failure by exploring crisis and divides - yet failure is not a self-evident quality. It requires a new understanding of why it is so quickly forgotten"--

Description

Wall Street and Silicon Valley – the two worlds this book examines – promote the illusion that scarcity can and should be eliminated in the age of seamless “flow.” Instead, Appadurai and Alexander propose a theory of habitual and strategic failure by exploring debt, crisis, digital divides, and (dis)connectivity.

Moving between the planned obsolescence and deliberate precariousness of digital technologies and the “too big to fail” logic of the Great Recession, they argue that the sense of failure is real in that it produces disappointment and pain. Yet, failure is not a self-evident quality of projects, institutions, technologies, or lives. It requires a new and urgent understanding of the conditions under which repeated breakdowns and collapses are quickly forgotten.

By looking at such moments of forgetfulness, this highly original book offers a multilayered account of failure and a general theory of denial, memory, and nascent systems of control. Failure is an insightful examination of these themes.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Failure has been praised as a profound and incisive work of social theory. Frank Pasquale of the University of Maryland highlights how the book dismantles Silicon Valley and Wall Street's narratives of progress, offering a critical theory that illuminates key contemporary trends. John Cheney-Lippold of the University of Michigan calls it a powerful critique of digital capitalism's reorganisation of time, society, and identity, providing an academic arsenal against current 'regimes of failure.' The book is noted for its interdisciplinary approach and relevance to popular discussions on digital privacy and financial futures.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781509504725

Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 27 September 2019

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Polity Press

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 15.0mm

Width: 137.0mm

Height: 213.0mm

Weight: 227g

Pages: 120

Collections

Arjun Appadurai Education & Reference Neta Alexander Non-Fiction

About the Author

Arjun Appadurai is Paulette Goddard Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University.
Neta Alexander is an Assistant Professor of Film and Media at Colgate University, New York.