[Air-L] New book: The Age of Sharing by Nicholas A. John

[Nicholas John]

Hello AoIR
I’m delighted to announce the publication of my book, The Age of Sharing <https://www.amazon.co.uk/Age-Sharing-Nicholas-John/dp/074566251X>.*
Culture Digitally has put up an excerpt: http://culturedigitally.org/…/the-age-of-sharing-by-nichol…/ <http://culturedigitally.org/2016/11/the-age-of-sharing-by-nicholas-john-an-excerpt/>
Polity has a short blog post: http://politybooks.com/the-age-of-sharing/ <http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fpolitybooks.com%2Fthe-age-of-sharing%2F&h=rAQEVZslyAQGfKP_HRliqhWnWXzE24jdLO2Y25nbe2Aauyw&enc=AZNGrp4unP-tQGNwgIn3yKRnV5C6hA1M7LQPlu9gQonDumWaRT1gxqX3xV-YcGRpG5swfNlGg1ue_dec_q8yh9cY2tOWOvCw_wZfDShelYP0JzIvvacI0YVll43NAaiejpVtv3HqsJVejaSFDjZ2FyXKhjjqus-_Meq-aCsvpKb-pA&s=1>
If you order it from polity <http://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9780745662503>, you can use the code PY794 to get a 20% discount, or order an examination copy.

The blurb on the back says:
Sharing is central to how we live today: it is what we do online; it is a model of economic behavior; and it is also a type of therapeutic talk. Sharing always comes with a warm glow around it, embodying positive values such as empathy, communication, fairness, openness and equality. The Age of Sharing shows how and when sharing became caring, and explains how its meanings have changed in the digital age.
Sharing, though, is also a word used to camouflage commercial or even exploitive relations, leading many to bemoan that ‘It isn’t really sharing’. Websites say they share data with advertisers, though actually they sell it, while parts of the sharing economy look much like rental services. But The Age of Sharing ultimately argues that practices described as sharing and critiques of those practices have common roots. Consequently, the powerful metaphor of sharing now constructs significant swathes of our social practices and provides the grounds for critiquing them; it is a mode of participation in the capitalist order and a way of resisting it.
Taking in nineteenth century literature, Alcoholics Anonymous, the American counterculture, reality TV, hackers, Airbnb, Facebook and more, The Age of Sharing offers a rich account of a complex contemporary keyword.
Nancy Baym said this: 
“The word ‘sharing’ has become so ubiquitous that we rarely stop to inquire into its meanings, let alone the ideological work it does in the diverse contexts of its use. John’s engaging historical analysis of ‘sharing’ across three domains is essential reading, offering deep insight into the implicit values that shape our interactions and economies.”
And Russell Belk, groundbreaking scholar of consumption, said: 
“The Age of Sharing is an insightful and careful excavation of the concept and practice of sharing both material and immaterial things.  It broadly interrogates primates and early humans to the latest social media and “sharing” apps, for clues about our basic human nature."

*It’s available right now in the UK and other parts of the world. The US and Australia have to wait a bit longer, when I get to do this announcing stuff all over again...

Enjoy!
Nik

Nicholas John 
Department of Communication 
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 
T +972 54 7906073 
@nicholasajohn <applewebdata://6327E284-563C-448F-BD8D-9E8A1A0E35AB/%E2%80%9Chttp://www.twitter.com/nicholasajohn%E2%80%9D> 
nicholasjohn.huji.ac.il <applewebdata://6327E284-563C-448F-BD8D-9E8A1A0E35AB/%E2%80%9Chttp://nicholasjohn.huji.ac.il/%E2%80%9D>