Hello AoIR friends, I’m thrilled to announce that my new book, Gaming Democracy: How Silicon Valley Leveled Up the Far Right, is now available! The book explores how play and gaming culture have mainstreamed far right ideology through social media platforms. I think it will be of great interest to many of you researching far right publics/politics, digital culture, games/play, memes, gender/race online, and platform politics. Please share this announcement with your networks, and do let me know if you decide to assign it, as I’m happy to set up a virtual visit with your classes to discuss it. Gaming Democracy is available to order from MIT Press <https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262549417/gaming-democracy/> or your favorite bookstore. Warmly, Adrienne Book description:
From #Gamergate to the ongoing Big Lie, the far right has gone mainstream. In Gaming Democracy, Adrienne Massanari tracks the flames of toxicity found in the far right and “alt-right” movements as they increasingly take up oxygen in American and global society. In this pathbreaking contribution to the fields of internet studies, game studies, and gender studies, Massanari argues that Silicon Valley's emphasis on meritocracy and free speech absolutism has driven this rightward slide. These ideologies have been coded into social media spaces that implicitly silence marginalized communities and subject them to rampant abuse by groups that have learned to “game” the ecology of platforms, algorithms, and attention economies.
While populist movements are not new, phenomena such as QAnon, parental rights activism, and COVID denialism are uniquely “of the internet,” with supporters demonstrating both technical acumen and an ability to use memes and play as a way of both building community and fomenting dissent. Massanari explores the ways that the far right uses memetic humor and geek masculinity as tools both to create a sense of community within these leaderless groups and to obfuscate their intentions. Using the lens of play and game studies as well as the concept of “metagaming,” Gaming Democracy is a novel contribution to our understanding of online platforms and far right political activism. Praise (from some of my favorite AoIR colleagues!): “Countering the fatalist belief that our information landscape is toxic and unfixable, Massanari shows how the logics of Silicon Valley have damaged democracy—and what we can do to fight back.” Whitney Phillips, Assistant Professor of Digital Platforms and Media Ethics in the School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon; author of This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things “With clear and convincing evidence, Massanari unlocks the mystery of the alt-right's dramatic rise: their skillful use of online platforms to game democracy itself. A must-read for anyone interested in a democratic future.” Mia Consalvo, Canada Research Chair in Game Studies and Design, Concordia University; author of Cheating and Atari to Zelda --- Adrienne Massanari, PhD she/her/hers Associate Professor Communication Studies/School of Communication Faculty Affiliate: Antiracist Research and Policy Center & AU Game Center American University