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Now in its third edition, Anthony Elliott’s comprehensive, stylish and accessible introduction continues to be the indispensable guide to social theory. Fully revised and updated, the book examines the major theoretical traditions from the Frankfurt School to posthumanism, and from feminism and post-structuralism to globalization theory and beyond. Classical debates in social theory are given careful appraisal, as are the major contemporary theorists – including Jurgen Habermas, Judith Butler, Anthony Giddens, Pierre Bourdieu, Julia Kristeva, Slavoj Žižek, Manuel Castells, Ulrich Beck, Zygmunt Bauman, Shoshana Zuboff and Bernard Stiegler. This edition includes a new chapter on the digital revolution, with consideration of how digital technologies in general and artificial intelligence in particular are reshaping societies. Like its predecessors, the third edition of Contemporary Social Theory combines stylish exposition with reflective social critique and original insights. This volume will prove a superb textbook with which to navigate the twists and turns of contemporary social theory as taught in the disciplines of sociology, politics, cultural and media studies and many more.

Ours is the era of “reinvention”. From psychotherapy to life coaching, from self-help manuals to cosmetic surgery and from corporate rebranding to urban redesign: the art of reinvention is inextricably interwoven with the lure of the next frontier, the breakthrough to the next boundary –especially boundaries of the self. In this new, updated edition of this remarkable book, Anthony Elliott examines “reinvention” as a key buzzword of our times. Through a wide-ranging and impassioned assessment, Elliott unmasks the ever-increasing globalization of reinvention – from reinvention gurus to business reinvention, from personal makeovers to corporate rebrandings. In doing so, he undertakes a serious if often amusing consideration of contemporary reinvention practices, including super-fast weight-loss diets, celebrity makeovers, body augmentations, speed dating, online relationship therapies, organizational restructurings, business downsizings and many more. The second edition of Reinvention includes a new chapter on the digital revolution and artificial intelligence, which situates reinvention within the context of technological automation. There is also a discussion of how the Covid-19 global pandemic has impacted today’s cultures of reinvention. In addition, there is a new concluding chapter in which the author develops further his theoretical account of the nature of reinvention societies. This absorbing book will continue to be the ideal introduction to reinvention for students and general readers alike. Reinvention offers a provocative and radical reflection on an issue (sometimes treated as trivial in the public sphere) that is increasingly politically urgent in terms of its personal, social and environmental consequences.

This chapter examines the notion of posthuman identity and considera its wider personal, social, cultural and political consequences. It explores the cultural and political factors that have brought posthumanism to prominence in the academy and in wider public debate. The chapter provides a critique of the gains and losses of posthuman social theory, focusing especially on the theme of identity and its possible transformations as a result of the impacts of information technology, genetics, nanotechnology and so on and so forth. It shows that notwithstanding various reservations concerning the fashion in which posthumanism has been theorized in the literature of social theory, the consequences of the advent of posthuman identities are far-reaching. The arrival of posthumanism, or post-anthropocentrism, is especially consequential for subjectivity and the critique of identity. Rosi Braidotti’s views on the relation between posthuman identity and contemporary society and culture are complex and sometimes quite obscure.

The discussion on automated mobilities tends to be highly speculative and future-oriented. Many predictions have been made about the ways in which transport will be radically transformed by the ongoing development and implementation of various automated technologies. One criticism leveled at this rapidly expanding societal debate is that it is often based on mere-conjecture. There is a benefit in doing more grounded analysis of automated transport futures, which relate to specific events, organizations, persons, and contexts. In May 2019 Anthony Elliott and Sven Kesselring had the opportunity to talk to Anders Eugensson from the Volvo Group about the current state of the discussion seen from a Europe based car producer. Anders Eugensson has been working for the former Swedish car producer for decades, that is part of the Chinese Geely Group, since 2010. He was involved in many corporate initiatives in the automation of land-based transport. From 2003 to 2018, he served as the Director of Governmental Affairs within Volvo Car Corporation. In 2013, Eugensson received the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s US Government Special Award of Appreciation. Currently, he works as an Autonomous Vehicle consultant to Volvo Trucks and Buses. Anthony Elliott and Sven Kesselring sat down with Eugensson to talk about his thoughts and experiences on how transport systems are being automated in a multitude of ways–some hidden, with others in plain sight. Eugensson mainly talks about the topic against his background at Volvo but much if it is actually representative for many developments in the global automotive industry. The interview took place at the inaugral Workshop event of theErasmus+ Jean Monnet Network “Cooperative, Connected andAutomated Mobility: EU and Australasian Innovations (CCAMEU),held in Munich, Germany in May 2019. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

In this ground-breaking book, Cambridge-trained sociologist Anthony Elliott argues that much of what passes for conventional wisdom about artificial intelligence is either ill-considered or plain wrong. The reason? The AI revolution is not so much about cyborgs and super-robots in the future, but rather massive changes in the here-and-now of everyday life. In The Culture of AI, Elliott explores how intelligent machines, advanced robotics, accelerating automation, big data and the Internet of Everything impact upon day-to-day life and contemporary societies. With remarkable clarity and insight, Elliott’s examination of the reordering of everyday life highlights the centrality of AI to everything we do - from receiving Amazon recommendations to requesting Uber, and from getting information from virtual personal assistants to talking with chatbots. The rise of intelligent machines transforms the global economy and threatens jobs, but equally there are other major challenges to contemporary societies - although these challenges are unfolding in complex and uneven ways across the globe. The Culture of AI explores technological innovations from industrial robots to softbots, and from self-driving cars to military drones - and along the way provides detailed treatments of: • The history of AI and the advent of the digital universe; • automated technology, jobs and employment; • the self and private life in times of accelerating machine intelligence; • AI and new forms of social interaction; • automated vehicles and new warfare; • and, the future of AI. Written by one of the world’s foremost social theorists, The Culture of AI is a major contribution to the field and a provocative reflection on one of the most urgent issues of our time. It will be essential reading to those working in a wide variety of disciplines including sociology, science and technology studies, politics, and cultural studies

Editor's Introduction by Anthony Elliott Part 1: Theories of Identity 1. A History of Identity: The Riddle at the Heart of the Mystery of Life by Charles Lemert 2. Historical and Intellectual Development of Topic by Ann Branaman 3. Identity after Psychoanalysis by Stephen Frosh 4. Foucaultian Approaches to the Self by Gavin Kendall 5. The Fragmentation of Identity: Post-structuralist and Postmodern Theories by Sam Han 6. Reflexive Identities by Daniel Chaffee 7. Individualization by Cosmo Howard 8. New Identities, New Individualism by Eric L. Hsu Part 2: The Analysis of Identity 9. Transformations of Working Identities: Labour and the Self by Daniel Mendelson 10. Identity, Race and Ethnicity by Anthony Moran 11. Gendered Identities by Mary Holmes 12. Media and Identity by Nick Stevenson 13. Virtual Identities: From Decentred to Distributed Selves by Sam Han 14. Consumer Identities by Roberta Sassatelli 15. Identity, Mortality and Death by Tamara Waraschinski and Charles Lemert Part 3: Identity-politics and its Consequences 16. Sexual Identity Politics: Activism from Gay to Queer and Beyond by Mark Casey 17. Environmentalism and Identity Politics by Eileen M. McGurty 18. Black Freedom Struggles and African American Identity by David Stein 19. The Politics of Islamic Identities by Sundas Ali 20. Indigenous Identities: From Colonialism to Post-Colonialism by Anthony Moran 21. Anti-Globalization and Resistance Identities by Catherine Eschle 22. Identity-Politics in the Global Age by Giogrio Shani