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Michael Keren - Speaking Power to Truth: Digital Discourse and the Public Intellectual - 9781771990332 - V9781771990332
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Speaking Power to Truth: Digital Discourse and the Public Intellectual

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Description for Speaking Power to Truth: Digital Discourse and the Public Intellectual Paperback. Editor(s): Keren, Michael; Hawkins, Richard. Series: Cultural Dialectics. Num Pages: 432 pages, illustrations. BIC Classification: PDR. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 5817 x 3887 x 15. Weight in Grams: 340.

Online discourse has created a new media environment forcontributions to public life, one that challenges the socialsignificance of the role of public intellectuals—intellectualswho, whether by choice or by circumstance, offer commentary on issuesof the day. The value of such commentary is rooted in the assumptionthat, by virtue of their training and experience, intellectuals possessknowledge—that they understand what constitutes knowledge withrespect to a particular topic, are able to distinguish it from mereopinion, and are in a position to define its relevance in differentcontexts. When intellectuals comment on matters of public concern, theyare accordingly presumed to speak truth, whether they are writing booksor op-ed columns or appearing as guests on radio and television newsprograms. At the same time, with increasing frequency, discourse onpublic life is taking place online—l an environment that ischaracterized by an abundance of speakers, discussion, and access. Buthas this democratization of knowledge, as some describe it brought withit a corresponding increase in truth?

Casting doubt on the assertion that online discourse, with itsproliferation of voices, will somehow yield collective wisdom, SpeakingPower to Truth raises concerns that this wealth of digitally enabledcommentary is, in fact, too often bereft of the hallmarks ofintellectual discourse: an epistemological framework and the provisionof evidence to substantiate claims. Instead, the pursuit of truth findsitself in competition with the quest for public reputation, access toinfluence, and enhanced visibility. In exploring the implications ofthe digital transition, the contributors to Speaking Power to Truthprovide both empirical evidence of, and philosophical reflection on,the current and future role of the public intellectual in atechnologically mediated public sphere.

Product Details

Format
Paperback
Publication date
2016
Publisher
AU Press Canada
Number of pages
432
Condition
New
Series
Cultural Dialectics
Number of Pages
216
Place of Publication
EDMONTON, Canada
ISBN
9781771990332
SKU
V9781771990332
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 7 to 11 working days
Ref
99-1

About Michael Keren
Michael Keren is a professor and Canada Research Chairin the Department of Political Science and the Department ofCommunication and Culture at the University of Calgary. He is theauthor of many books on public intellectuals, political communication,and political literature, including Blogosphere: The New PoliticalArena and The Citizen’s Voice: Twentieth-CenturyPolitics and Literature. Richard Hawkins isprofessor in the Science, Technology and Society Program at theUniversity of Calgary, senior fellow at the Centre for InnovationStudies (THECIS), and a fellow of the Institute for Science, Societyand Policy at the University of Ottawa. He has served as policyconsultant for such clients as the World Bank and Industry Canada andhas authored more than a hundred scientific publications and technicalreports on science, technology, and industry policy.

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