Folks, Perhaps as a complement to the interesting abstracts of papers coming through air-l, I'd like to share some interesting readings I've been mulling over throughout the summer. Am I imagining things or has the summer pipeline of publications been particularly interesting this summer? * INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION, & SOCIETY 5: 1 (Jan 2002) Special issue title "Work, Difference and the New Media Industries" guest edited by Nina Wakeford, this is one of the first focused attempts to examine the workers and work environments of new media. With a diverse set of methodological approaches, the contributors examine new media work and its accompanying rhetoric. A few of the chapters focus on firms based in Silicon Valley and one (by Rosalind Gill) draws from workers from six European countries. It seems to me that the contributors are tapping into a whole new realm of Internet studies. Bravo! Contents: Keeping Up: Web Design Skill and The Reinvented Worker pp. 1 - 26 Nalini P. Kotamraju Hot Jobs in Cool Places. The Material Cultures of New Media Product Spaces: The Case of South of the Market, San Francisco pp. 27 - 50 Andy C. Pratt Occupational Technologists as an Occupational Community: Ethnographic Evidence pp. 51 - 69 Daniel Marschall Cool, Creative and Egalitarian? Exploring Gender in Project-Based New Media Work in Europe pp. 70 - 89 Rosalind Gill Trusting Strangers: Work Relationships in Four High-Tech Communities pp. 90 - 108 J.A. English-Lueck, Charles N. Darrah, Andrea Saveri Playing at work: Understanding the Future of Work Practices at the Institute for the Future pp. 109 - 136 Lonny J Brooks, Geoffrey Bowker * INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SEXUALITY AND GENDER STUDIES 7:2/3 (July 2002) Special issue title "Queer Webs: Representations of LGBT People and Communities on the World Wide Web" guest edited by Jonathan Alexander, this is an excellent compilation and does for studies of sexualities and the Net as Wired Women and Virtual Gender did for Net + gender and Race and Cyberspace did for Net + race/ethnicity. I'm still reading it but so far I've enjoyed and learned a lot from Alexander's "Homo-Pages and Queer Sites: Studying the Construction and Representation of Queer Identities on the World Wide Web" and Donald Snyder's "'I Don't Go By Sean Patrick': On-Line/Off-Line/Out Identity and SeanPatrickLive.com." Diverse and in depth contributions. It's great to see a work like this appear. Perhaps the next step is to put together a volume that explores simultaneously the multiple perspectives of race, gender, class, and sexuality as they relate to the Net and new media. Contents: Introduction to the Special Issue: Queer Webs: Representations of LGBT People and Communities on the World Wide Web pp. 77-84. Jonathan Alexander Homo-Pages and Queer Sites: Studying the Construction and Representation of Queer Identities on the World Wide Web pp. 85-106 Jonathan Alexander Under the Rainbow Flag: Webbing Global Gay Identities pp. 107-124 Bettina Heinz, Li Gu, Ako Inuzuka, Roger Zender Virtually Belonging: Risk, Connectivity, and Coming Out On-Line pp. 125-137 Sally R. Munt, Elizabeth H. Bassett, Kate O'Riordan Cross-Dressers in Cyber-Space: Exploring the Internet as a Tool for Expressing Gendered Identity pp. 139-161 Jane E. Hegland, Nancy J. Nelson The Newhalf Net: Japan's "Intermediate Sex" On-Line pp. 163-175 Mark McLelland "I Don't Go By Sean Patrick": On-Line/Off-Line/Out Identity and SeanPatrickLive.com pp. 177-195 Donald I. Snyder Razorgirls and Cyberdykes: Tracing Cyberfeminism and Thoughts on Its Use in a Legal Context pp. 197-213 Bela Bonita Chatterjee Suicidality and Sexual Orientation in Five Continents: Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America pp. 215-225 Robin M. Mathy "Behind the Mask": An African Gay-Affirmative Website pp. 227-234 Jonathan Alexander * LISA NAKAMURA, CYBERTYPES: RACE, ETHNICITY, AND IDENTITY ON THE INTERNET (Routledge, 2002) For my money, I think this is one of the best books the nascent field has to offer, especially from a humanities approach. A blend of cultural studies, visual analysis, and postcolonial studies, the book approaches the Net broadly and leaves us with a ton of interesting things to think about. I'll be assigning this in my undergrad class in the fall and most likely to my graduate class in spring. Any other reading lists folks want to share? Enjoy the summer while it lasts, david silver http://faculty.washington.edu/dsilver/