Tech expert and activist Jamie Bartlett rigorously picks apart the threats to political transparency, collective free will and personal freedom that emanate from the relentless rise and rise of big tech. Urgent and passionate yet focused and informed, The People vs. Tech is an essential diatribe against the erosion of democracy by Silicon Valley demagogues.
The internet was meant to set us free. Tech has radically changed the way we live our lives. But have we unwittingly handed too much away to shadowy powers behind a wall of code, all manipulated by a handful of Silicon Valley utopians, ad men, and venture capitalists?
And what does that mean for democracy, our delicately balanced system of government that was created long before big data, total information and artificial intelligence?
In this urgent polemic, Jamie Bartlett argues that through our unquestioning embrace of big tech, the building blocks of democracy are slowly being removed. The middle class is being eroded, sovereign authority and civil society is weakened, and we citizens are losing our critical faculties, maybe even our free will.
The People Vs Tech is an enthralling account of how our fragile political system is being threatened by the digital revolution.
Bartlett explains that by upholding six key pillars of democracy, we can save it before it is too late.
We need to become active citizens; uphold a shared democratic culture; protect free elections; promote equality; safeguard competitive and civic freedoms; and trust in a sovereign authority.
In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal this essential book shows that the stakes couldn't be higher and that, unless we radically alter our course, democracy will join feudalism, supreme monarchies and communism as just another political experiment that quietly disappeared.
Publisher: Ebury Publishing
ISBN: 9781785039065
Number of pages: 256
Dimensions: 196 x 126 x 16 mm
Weight: 174 g
Language: English
A superb book by one of the world’s leading experts on the digital revolution... Bartlett finishes by offering us “20 Ideas to Save Democracy". These thoughtful pointers ... provide both invaluable food for thought and a fitting end to an outstanding book - David Patrikarakos, Literary Review
There are thousands of books about the internet and its impact on society, but this is the only one you really need... I can't think of a more important book right now - Iain Macwhirter, Herald
The People Vs Tech is a vital guide and a call addressed to those who are unwilling to play the part of the hapless shipowner in the coming war for our minds and democracy itself - Yiannis Baboulias, Spectator
A timely new book by Jamie Bartlett of Demos, The People Vs Tech, spells out why it's vital that politicians seize this moment to reform our attitudes to technology - Helen Lewis, New Statesman
The People Vs Tech is an erudite book that sheds light on the unwanted social costs of the big tech revolution. An essential read for pretty much anyone in the world of politics - Sam Bright, Progress
Highly readable... [Bartlett] is surely right to argue that our futures will be shaped by how the winners and losers respond to the changes unleashed by technology, as much as by the technology itself - John Thornhill, Financial Times
Bartlett effectively manages to condense the political challenges of technology into his six-pillar framework. This book can therefore serve as both a foundational introduction to the current technological and political landscape, whilst also providing much-needed clarity to even the seasoned reader of such issues... When it comes to rapidly-scaling technology companies, society must now ask the right questions – and Bartlett’s book is a strong place to start. - Kevin Seidler, LSE Review of Books
A fascinating, though sometimes sobering and even frightening, journey - The Quint
Fascinating - Amber Rudd MP
Remarkable - David Anderson QC
Physics and Philosophy
You Are the Placebo
Game Theory
Zero Degrees of Empathy
Bad Science
The Signal and the Noise
Periodic Tales
Why Does E=mc2?
Fermat’s Last Theorem
In Defence of Dogs
The Beginning of Infinity
Seventeen Equations that Changed the World
Predictably Irrational
The Brain That Changes Itself
Quantum Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum
The People vs Tech is a very timely, and at times prescient introduction into the ways in which the fruits of Silicon Valley's brightest and best are affecting our democracy, jobs, ways of doing politics,... More
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