Author: Michael Strangelove File Type: pdf Where many critics see the Internet as an instrument of corporate hegemony, Michael Strangelove sees something else an alternative space inhabited by communities dedicated to anarchic freedom, culture jamming, alternative journalism, and resistance to authoritarian forms of consumer capitalism and globalization. In The Empire of Mind, Dr. Strangelove, the scholar Canadian Business referred to as the acknowledged dean of Internet entrepreneurs and Wired called the Canadian guru of Internet advertising, presents the compelling argument that the Internet and new digital communication technology actually undermine the power of capital, producing an alternative symbolic economy. Strangelove contends that the Internet breaks with the capitalist logic of commodification and that, while television produces a passive consumer audience, Internet audiences are more active, creative, and subversive. Writers, activists, and artists on the Internet undermine commercial media and its management of consumer behaviour, a behaviour that is challenged by the Webs tendency toward the disintegration of intellectual property rights. Case studies describe the invention of new meaning given to cultural and consumer icons like Barbie and McDonalds and explore how novel modes of online news production alter the representation of the world as it is produced by the mainstream, corporate press. In the course of exploring new media, The Empire of Mind also makes apparent that digital piracy will not be eliminated. The Internet community effectively converts private property into public, thereby presenting serious obstacles for the management of consumer behaviour and significantly eroding brand value. Much to the dismay of the corporate sector, online communities are disinterested in the ethics of private property. In fact, the entire philosophical framework on which capitalism is based is threatened by these alternative means of cultural production.

Author: Vern L. Bullough File Type: pdf Explore the early history of the gay rights movement! In the words of editor Vern L. Bullough Although there was no single leader in the gay and lesbian community who achieved the fame and reputation of Martin Luther King, there were a large number of activists who put their careers and reputations on the line. It was a motley crew of radicals and reformers, drawn together by the cause in spite of personality and philosophical differences. Their stories are told in the following pages. Before Stonewall Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context illuminates the lives of the courageous individuals involved in the early struggle for gay and lesbian civil rights in the United States. Authored by those who knew them (often activists themselves), the concise biographies in this volume examine the lives of pre-1969 barrier breakers like Harry Hay, Henry Gerber, Alfred Kinsey, Del Martin, Phyllis Lyon, Jim Kepner, Jack Nichols, Christine Jorgensen, Jose Sarria, Barbara Grier, Frank Kameny, and 40 more. To anyone with an interest in the history of the gaylesbian rights movements in the United States, these names will be familiar, but did you know that in addition to their groundbreaking activism ul lPrescott Townsend was a Boston Brahman l lDorr Legg was a Log Cabin Republican l lHarry Hay was at one time a member of the Communist party l lJim Kepner was a boy preacher l lTroy Perry was removed from the ministry of his church for homosexuality--and then founded the gay-friendly Metropolitan Community Church l lReed Erickson--a transsexual millionaire who gave millions to the cause--kept a pet leopard called Henry l lBarbara Gittings set up a kissing booth at the American Library Association convention and urged attendees to kiss a gay or lesbian!l ul Before Stonewall is a perfect ancillary text for any gaylesbian studies course, but more to the point, no one interested in these heroic figures and the movements they ignited should be without this book, which received an honorable mention in the 2004 Stonewall Book Awards. **From Library Journal The 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York City, which thrust the struggle for civil rights for homosexuals into the consciousness of North Americans, was so seminal an event that it is easy to forget that it did not occur in a vacuum. Editor Bullough (ed., Encyclopedia of Birth Control coauthor, Sexual Attitudes) redresses this with a collection of 49 short biographies of activists, written by such authors as Felice Picano, James T. Sears, Wayne R. Dines, and Charley Shively. Included are not just gays, lesbians, and transgendered individuals but such figures as Alfred Kinsey, Evelyn Hooker, and Bullough himself, who, although not themselves gay, worked to reduce the stigma attached to homosexuality. Most of the names, with such exceptions as Kinsey, Allen Ginsberg, Christine Jorgensen, and perhaps Franklin Kameny, are undeservedly obscure. A few of the biographies are uneven or awkwardly brief, but overall they admirably convey the passion and commitment of these men and women. This inspiring chronicle of risk takers and trendsetters (the books original title) merits a place in all history, gay and lesbian studies, and human sexuality collections. Richard J. Violette, Special Libs., Victoria, BC 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. About the Author Vern L. Bullough, a Distinguished Professor Emeritus from SUNY, Buffalo, is the author or editor of fifty books, including Sexual Variance in Society and History Women and Prostitution A Short History of Homosexuality Science in the Bedroom and Encyclopedia of Birth Control.