Technotopia

Many technologies and practices that define the Internet today date back to the 1990s - such as user-generated content, participatory platforms and social media. Indeed, many early ideas about the future of the Internet have been implemented, albeit without fulfilling the envisioned political utopias. By tracing back the technotopian vision, Clemens Apprich develops a media genealogical understanding that points beyond the current state of socio-technical networks. This highly original book raises the question of how new technological assemblages, often referred to as digital networks, have profoundly transformed not only our social, but also our cultural, economical and political fields of action over the last 30 years. At the beginning of the 1990s, a very active media culture scene emerged and provided a space to discuss the potential of newly built network technologies. The author defines these pioneer projects as experimental playgrounds for new forms of media and social practices, such that have become part of our everyday culture. By looking back to the early days of network-building - when the terms of 'possible futures' were still under negotiation - this book informs our understanding of one of the most recent transformations of (post-)modernity. Apprich revisits a critical time when the Internet was not yet an everyday reality, but when its potential was already understood and fiercely debated. The historical context of net cultures provides the basis from which Apprich critically engages with current debates about the weal and woe of the Internet and challenges today's predominant network model.