Christian Fuchs

Published in autumn 2022:
Christian Fuchs 2022. Digital Humanism. A Philosophy for 21st Century Digital Society. SocietyNow Series. Bingley: Emerald. ISBN 9781803824222. 272 pages.

This book introduces the approach of Digital Humanism and outlines foundations of a Radical Digital Humanism.
“Digital Humanism refuses to transform humans into machines and to think of machines as humans. This is why this book is such an important and timely intervention.”
– Eva Illouz, Director of Studies at EHESS, Paris
More information 

Christian Fuchs. 2022. Digital Capitalism: Media, Communication and Society Volume Three. London: Routledge. ISBN: 978-1-032-11918-2 (hbk). ISBN: 978-1-032-11920-5 (pbk). ISBN: 978-1-003-22214-9 (ebk). 342 pages.

The book “Digital Capitalism” is the third volume in Christian Fuchs’s Media, Communication and Society book series. It illuminates what it means to live in an age of digital capitalism.
More information is available here.

Fuchs, Christian. 2021. Communicating COVID-19. Everyday Life, Digital Capitalism, and Conspiracy Theories in Pandemic Times. SocietyNow Series. Bingley: Emerald. ISBN 9781801177238. 336 pages.
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Democracy requires Public Service Media and a Public Service Internet.

Please support, share and sign the Public Service Media and Public Service Internet Manifesto:
http://bit.ly/signPSManifesto (please sign the Manifesto)
http://bit.ly/psmmanifesto (Manifesto)
#PSMIManifesto

Open access book version of the Manifesto: Christian Fuchs and Klaus Unterberger, eds. 2021. The Public Service Media and Public Service Internet Manifesto. London: University of Westminster Press. 135 pages
Open access book: http://doi.org/10.16997/book60
ISBN (PDF): 978-1-914386-29-9
ISBN (EPUB): 978-1-914386-30-5
ISBN (Kindle): 978-1-914386-31-2
This open access book presents the collectively authored Public Service Media and Public Service Internet Manifesto and accompanying materials.

Video of the launch event

Press release:
Occupy the Internet: 200 Media Experts Publish an Alarming Wake Up Call and Demand a Public Service Internet

Discussion:
Channel 4: Rather Than Privatising Public Service Media We Should Be Expanding It Online

Further Infos:

ORF DialogForum: Das Internet Manifesto (The Internet Manifesto). October 4, 2021 (broadcast on October 7 & 9, 2021, on ORF III). Video YouTube

ORF Digital.Leben: Manifest für ein öffentlich-rechtliches Internet (Manifesto for a Public Service Internet). ORF Radio Ö1, October 4, 2021. Audio

ORF Press Release: ORF-Public-Value-Tag: Weltweites Public-Service-Internet-Manifest vorgestellt (ORF Public Value Day: Presentation of a Global Public Service Internet Manifesto). ORF, October 4, 2021. Web PDF

Christian Fuchs. 2021. Channel 4: Rather Than Privatising Public Service Media We Should Be Expanding It Online. The Conversation, 23 June 2021. Link

Podbean version
Spotify version (featuring music by Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Soap & Skin, Pulp, Johnny Cash, The Kills, L7, Arcade Fire)

In this episode of his podcast, Christian Fuchs talks about what it means to take a philosophical approach on the communication of death and love.

The episode deals with the following questions: What philosophical positions are there on death? What ways are there for humans to mourn their loved ones? What kind of communication process is mourning? What is the role of death in capitalism? What is the relationship of death and love?

A written version is available as Creative Commons text here: https://doi.org/10.16997/book45.m

Music
Bonnie “Prince” Billy: Death to Everyone
Soap & Skin: Deathmental
Pulp: Death Goes to the Disco
Johnny Cash: Hurt
The Kills: Doing it to Death
L7: Pretend We’re Dead
Arcade Fire: No Cars Go

Christian Fuchs’ “Critical Theory Rocks” Podcast on Spotify: 
Episode 1: Anxiety & Politics: The Relevance of Franz Neumann’s Critical Theory in the Age of Authoritarian Capitalism
This episode of Critical Theory Rocks discusses the relevance of Franz L Neumann’s critical theory today. Accompanying reading: https://doi.org/10.31269/triplec.v15i2.903
Including music by Sonic Youth, Soap&Skin, Belle and Sebastian, Yo La Tengo, Tocotronic.
Christian Fuchs’ “Critical Theory Rocks” is the podcast where critical theory rocks society and rock music becomes a tool of social critique.
Listen

Christian Fuchs. 2021. Cornel West and Marxist Humanism. Critical Sociology, Online First, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0896920520988314 (published open access, freely available pdf and html)

Humanity has experienced an explosion of anti-humanism in the form of authoritarian capitalism, postmodern filter bubbles, and global problems. Marxist/Socialist Humanism is the proper answer to the deep crisis of humanity. In this context, this article asks ‘How can Cornel West’s works inform a contemporary Marxist humanist theory of society?’ Taking West’s works as a starting point, what are the key elements of a Marxist humanist theory of society?

Cornel West is one of the leading critical intellectuals today. His work has fused anti-racist theory, Black Liberation Theology, Marxist theory, pragmatism, and existentialism.

This article especially focuses on West’s understanding of humanism and culture. It shows how his works and praxis can inform the reinvigoration of Marxist Humanism in the age of authoritarian capitalism as a socialist response. West’s thought can and should also inform the analysis of alienation, exploitation, domination, culture, the public sphere, the critique of ideology, and popular culture.

Developing Marxist-humanist thought, Fuchs in 2020 published the book Communication and Capitalism: A Critical Theory. In March 2021, Marxist Humanism and Communication Theory will be issued as first volume in his new book series “Communication and Society”.

Image attribution: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In Communication and Capitalism: A Critical Theory, Christian Fuchs outlines foundations of a critical theory of communication. The English version of the book is available open access and as affordable paperback. The book is also available in German.

You can watch a talk where Christian Fuchs talks about some foundations of Communication and Capitalism: A Critical Theory and what it means to critically theorise communication.

Christian Fuchs’ book “Marxism: Karl Marx’s Fifteen Key Concepts for Cultural & Communication Studies.” was published in 2020.
It is a critical theory toolkit on how to how to make use of Karl Marx’s ideas in media, communication, and cultural studies.
Read more about the English version of the book and its German translation.