Ignas Kalpokas – författare

The metaverse seems to be on everybody’s lips – and yet, very few people can actually explain what it means or why it is important. This book aims to fill the gap from an interdisciplinary perspective informed by law and media and communications studies. Going beyond the optimism emanating from technology companies and venture capitalists, the authors critically evaluate the antecedents and the building blocks of the metaverse, the design and regulatory challenges that need to be solved, and commercial opportunities that are yet to be fully realised. While the metaverse is poised to open new possibilities and perspectives, it will also be a dangerous place – one ripe with threats ranging from disinformation to intellectual property theft to sexual harassment. Hence, the book offers a useful guide to the legal and political governance issues ahead while also contextualising them within the broader domain of governance and regulation of digital technologies.

The metaverse seems to be on everybody’s lips – and yet, very few people can actually explain what it means or why it is important. This book aims to fill the gap from an interdisciplinary perspective informed by law and media and communications studies. Going beyond the optimism emanating from technology companies and venture capitalists, the authors critically evaluate the antecedents and the building blocks of the metaverse, the design and regulatory challenges that need to be solved, and commercial opportunities that are yet to be fully realised. While the metaverse is poised to open new possibilities and perspectives, it will also be a dangerous place – one ripe with threats ranging from disinformation to intellectual property theft to sexual harassment. Hence, the book offers a useful guide to the legal and political governance issues ahead while also contextualising them within the broader domain of governance and regulation of digital technologies.

There is an inherent tension between popular and establishment powers in political communities. With anti-establishment sentiment on the rise across Western democracies, exploring the underpinnings of this dualism and rethinking theories of political life within states is of paramount importance. By combining the theories of Carl Schmitt and Benedict Spinoza, this book develops a framework of continuous reproduction, whereby the two powers simultaneously hold one another in tension and supersede one another. In the same vein, political communities are shown to be perpetually caught in a cycle of creativity/contestation, derived primarily from Schmitt (the tragic groundlessness of politics) and limitation (derived primarily from Spinoza as a quasi-theological belief in the status quo).

Providing a novel theoretical framework explaining the workings of democratic politics, this book also offers a non-traditional reading of Spinoza and Schmitt. Whereas traditionally both have been treated as almost polar opposites, here they are held in creative tension, providing equally important building blocks for the proposed theory. By furthering their analysis, the author creates a new theory of political action.

There is an inherent tension between popular and establishment powers in political communities. With anti-establishment sentiment on the rise across Western democracies, exploring the underpinnings of this dualism and rethinking theories of political life within states is of paramount importance. By combining the theories of Carl Schmitt and Benedict Spinoza, this book develops a framework of continuous reproduction, whereby the two powers simultaneously hold one another in tension and supersede one another. In the same vein, political communities are shown to be perpetually caught in a cycle of creativity/contestation, derived primarily from Schmitt (the tragic groundlessness of politics) and limitation (derived primarily from Spinoza as a quasi-theological belief in the status quo).

Providing a novel theoretical framework explaining the workings of democratic politics, this book also offers a non-traditional reading of Spinoza and Schmitt. Whereas traditionally both have been treated as almost polar opposites, here they are held in creative tension, providing equally important building blocks for the proposed theory. By furthering their analysis, the author creates a new theory of political action.

The world we live in is increasingly malleable and fluid, especially in regards to being human - rendering the self into a permanent beta version, co-constituted within agglomerations of platforms, devices, physical infrastructures, entities pertaining to physical and biological nature. This book proposes a posthumanist research methodology for future research in this area, providing a novel explanatory and methodological framework for studying today''s world.

Malleable, Digital, and Posthuman studies four areas: the economy, the human self, politics, and research ethics and methodology. In the economic domain, Kalpokas focuses on the emergence of the attention economy and the ensuing shift towards personalisation and experience, shaping the (digital) environment for optimised user interaction. Consequently, the datafication and algorithmisation of the social world necessitates an art and craft of the self, establishing a co-constitutive interaction between the self and digital infrastructures. These changes also strongly affect politics, primarily through datafied management of the political and employment of predictive analytics in preparing ground for political action, thereby rendering collective identities and political leadership malleable and open to relentless beta testing.

With unique insights and an innovative framework, this book is essential reading for researchers in the areas of media and communication studies, politics and social theory.

The world we live in is increasingly malleable and fluid, especially in regards to being human - rendering the self into a permanent beta version, co-constituted within agglomerations of platforms, devices, physical infrastructures, entities pertaining to physical and biological nature. This book proposes a posthumanist research methodology for future research in this area, providing a novel explanatory and methodological framework for studying today''s world.

Malleable, Digital, and Posthuman studies four areas: the economy, the human self, politics, and research ethics and methodology. In the economic domain, Kalpokas focuses on the emergence of the attention economy and the ensuing shift towards personalisation and experience, shaping the (digital) environment for optimised user interaction. Consequently, the datafication and algorithmisation of the social world necessitates an art and craft of the self, establishing a co-constitutive interaction between the self and digital infrastructures. These changes also strongly affect politics, primarily through datafied management of the political and employment of predictive analytics in preparing ground for political action, thereby rendering collective identities and political leadership malleable and open to relentless beta testing.

With unique insights and an innovative framework, this book is essential reading for researchers in the areas of media and communication studies, politics and social theory.

This book analyses the changes to the regulation of everyday life that have taken place as a result of datafication, the ever-growing analytical, predictive, and structuring role of algorithms, and the prominence of the platform economy. This new form of regulation – algorithmic governance – ranges from nudging individuals towards predefined outcomes to outright structuration of behaviour through digital architecture. The author reveals the strength and pervasiveness of algorithmic politics through a comparison with the main traditional form of regulation: law. These changes are subsequently demonstrated to reflect a broader shift away from anthropocentric accounts of the world. In doing so, the book adopts a posthumanist framework which focuses on deep embeddedness and interactions between humans, the natural environment, technology, and code.

This book examines escapist coping strategies brought about by the pace, breadth and governance of technological change. It argues that escapism manifests in various forms, ranging from nostalgia for a fantasised past of unhindered reason and agency, to progressive visions of societal and political improvement, and greater empowerment. Drawing on post-humanist theory and critical disability studies, the book also assesses how escapism should not be viewed as an unavoidable reaction to technological change, and develops a model for an ethically equitable relationship between humans and technology. It will appeal to all those interested in governance and politics, media and communication studies, technology studies, and philosophy.