Post-Truth Geographies.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Warf, Barney.

Series:

Digital Geographies Series

Digital Geographies Series ; v.1

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (232 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berlin/Boston : Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2023.

Summary:

This book explores the geographical dimensions and implications of the post-truth era. Opening with a defense of the Enlightenment and the continued significance of science, objectivity, and truth, it then provides three key perspectives on the concept: The first is a philosophical analysis of post-truth. Social theory in various forms has sutured knowledge and power, in the process relativizing the nature of truth. This process reaches its apogee under post-modernism, which questions the very nature of truth itself. The second is the examination of the historical origins and development of the post-truth world. While post-truth has a history that can be traced back to the 18th and 19th centuries, more recently it has growth prolifically through the use of social media. The book examines post-truth as it appears in the yellow journalism of the Hearst newspapers, Holocaust denial, and contemporary attacks on science itself (e.g., the anti-vaccine movement, denial of evolution). Post-truth becomes a central issue in Western politics following Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, who uses it frequently to advance a reactionary political agenda. Russian hackers weaponize it to interfere in the politics of Europe and the U.S. Fox News and other right-wing outlets also play a central role. One result is the proliferation of unfounded conspiracy theories such as QAnon. Today, autocrats and dictators the world over use fake news to maintain their power. Finally, this book links the rise of a post-truth society to the dynamics of contemporary economic geography. Knowledge-intensive capitalism has greatly elevated the significance of symbolic workers or the creative class. Geographically, contemporary capitalism has accentuated the agglomeration of producer services in large urban areas in which such workers labor. Conversely, rural areas and small towns have largely become repositories of the undereducated, and thus are more susceptible to fake news.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

List of Figures

Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 2 The Meanings and Philosophies of Truth(s) and Post-Truth

Chapter 3 The Historical Geography of Fake News and Post-Truth

Chapter 4 Right-wing Post-truth Geographies

Chapter 5 The Urban and Rural Landscapes of Post-truth

Chapter 6 World Regional Geographies of Post-Truth

Chapter 7 Conclusions: Contours of Geography in the Age of Fake News

References

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9783110749847

311074984X

OCLC:

1395182353