Hardback : £97.95
The days of "revolutionary" campaign strategies are gone. The extraordinary has become ordinary, and campaigns at all levels, from the federal to the municipal, have realized the necessity of incorporating digital media technologies into their communications strategies. Still, little is understood about how these practices have been taken up and routinized on a wide scale, or the ways in which the use of these technologies is tied to new norms and understandings of
political participation and citizenship in the digital age. The vocabulary that we do possess for speaking about what counts as citizenship in a digital age is limited. Drawing on
ethnographic fieldwork in a federal-level election, interviews with communications and digital media consultants, and textual analysis of campaign materials, this book traces the emergence and solidification of campaign strategies that reflect what it means to be a citizen in the digital era. It identifies shifting norms and emerging trends to build new theories of citizenship in contemporary democracy. Baldwin-Philippi argues that these campaign practices foster engaged and skeptical citizens.
But, rather than assess the quality or level of participation and citizenship due to the use of technologies, this book delves into the way that digital strategies depict what "good" citizenship ought
to be and the goals and values behind the tactics.
The days of "revolutionary" campaign strategies are gone. The extraordinary has become ordinary, and campaigns at all levels, from the federal to the municipal, have realized the necessity of incorporating digital media technologies into their communications strategies. Still, little is understood about how these practices have been taken up and routinized on a wide scale, or the ways in which the use of these technologies is tied to new norms and understandings of
political participation and citizenship in the digital age. The vocabulary that we do possess for speaking about what counts as citizenship in a digital age is limited. Drawing on
ethnographic fieldwork in a federal-level election, interviews with communications and digital media consultants, and textual analysis of campaign materials, this book traces the emergence and solidification of campaign strategies that reflect what it means to be a citizen in the digital era. It identifies shifting norms and emerging trends to build new theories of citizenship in contemporary democracy. Baldwin-Philippi argues that these campaign practices foster engaged and skeptical citizens.
But, rather than assess the quality or level of participation and citizenship due to the use of technologies, this book delves into the way that digital strategies depict what "good" citizenship ought
to be and the goals and values behind the tactics.
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Constructing Citizens
Chapter 2: Incremental Innovation
Chapter 3: Constructing Skeptical Citizens
Chapter 4: Digital Circulation in Networked Publics
Chapter 5: Digital Retail Politics and Interpersonal Messaging in
Social Media
Chapter 6: Confounding Control
Conclusion: Constructions of Citizenship Moving Forward
Appendix
Notes
References
Index
Jessica Baldwin-Philippi is Assistant Professor of New Media at Fordham University.
"The strength of Jessica Baldwin-Philippi's book lies in the rich
ethnographic observations that she draws from her experience
working in a campaign office. Through her fieldwork analysis and
particularly through her innovative mapping of campaign
microtargeting strategies she shows how the technological
breakthroughs of 2008 have been adopted successfully at the local
level. Her book will be required reading for anyone interested in
the impact of technology on
U.S. elections." -Philip N. Howard, author of The Digital Origins
of Dictatorship and Democracy: Information Technology and Political
Islam
"Baldwin-Philippi's book fills an important gap in political
communication scholarship by showing how political campaigns in
practice construct a role for citizens to play in electoral
politics. Her careful ethnographic analysis of state-level races in
2010, the revealing interviews with campaign staffers between 2010
and 2011, and the content analysis of a multitude of campaign
materials allow her to share the real practices and genuine
challenges that
confront campaigns as they structure political participation in the
digital age." -Jennifer Stromer-Galley, author of Presidential
Campaigning in the Internet Age
"In this ambitious book, Jessica Baldwin-Philippi analyzes digital
communications in political contests far from the spotlight of
presidential campaigns. The result is a rich and nuanced picture of
the strategies and values of campaigners and new practices of
citizenship that shape democratic life in the digital age." -Daniel
Kreiss, author of Taking Our Country Back: The Crafting of
Networked Politics from Howard Dean to Barack Obama
"If you want to move past the hype and learn how social media tools
are actually changing American campaigns, this is the book for
you." -David Karpf, author of The MoveOn Effect: The Unexpected
Transformation of American Political Advocacy
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
