The Virtual Transformation of the Public Sphere

"This important volume is the first to offer a serious analysis of the relevance of the Habermasian view of the public sphere to the age of virtual communication . . . [A] rich mix of philosophical insights and ethnographic analyses from unlikely locations . . . [it] is destined to become a major interdisciplinary resource for all scholars concerned with the future of democratic participation in the age of virtuality."

- Arjun Appadurai, Goddard Professor of Media, Culture and Communication, New York University, USA

"A stunning array of papers and a sparkling introduction make this an invaluable guide to the triangulation of publics, politics and technics . . . [It] showcases much original research and challenging thinking and provides essential tools for understanding not only contemporary India but also the world it is helping to make."

- Christopher Pinney, Professor of Anthropology and Visual Culture, University College London, UK

"The book examines ways that participating in the VPS impacts communities (both virtual and in the lived world), aesthetics, identity, commerce, subject positions, the subconscious, and the unconscious. The essays are consistently sharp, well written, and provocative... All told, [the book] is a solidly engaging read, chock full of challenging, well-considered articles. The theories and opinions offered in the book are, like the VPS itself, disparate—yet somehow connected."

- John Sewell, University of West Georgia, Carrollton, Georgia, USA, in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly