Post-Fordist Communities and Cyberspace: A Critical Approach
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This chapter approaches from a critical perspective questions regarding so-called ‘virtual communities.’ Because the origins of every community arise from language and communication it is impossible to distinguish between ‘genuine,’ communities and imaginary, or even ‘fake,’ communities. It is, however, possible to discern both their (changing) stability and solidity within specific social conditions and the ways in which these communities are imagined. This social-constructivist approach is further developed by proposing a three-fold construction of community while simultaneously demonstrating the falsehood of the ‘virtual’ versus ‘real’ dichotomy. Throughout the chapter, determinist paradigms are questioned and demystified by demonstrating how both optimistic and pessimistic technologistic currents fail to acknowledge wider structural changes in capitalism, and attempt to depoliticise these developments by providing escapist or unitary solutions to social antagonisms. Because technology is neither autonomous nor neutral, and always develops within a complex conjuncture of power relationships, there is a need to look beyond views that solely blame technology for social transformations. In the time of ‘liquid modernity’ and post-Fordist capitalism, temporary cloakroom communities have become a rule, and this chapter aims at revising our understanding of their role in society.