The Nancy Baym book award committee are delighted to announce the 2017 winner. The award goes to Nicholas John for his book The Age of Sharing
. Following the genealogy and application of a key term of today’s digital culture across three domains, the internet and social media, the economy, and interpersonal relationships, John traces crucial shifts in the meanings, value and importance of sharing, pointing to its centrality in today’s world. The Age of Sharing condenses and summarizes sharing as one of the main premises of digital culture, from file sharing, through the shared economy, to sharing is caring, exposing the ambiguities, openings and tensions and in doing so casts new light into an everyday practice. The committee believes that this kind of historical and contemporary analysis, the engagement with classic and current literature, and the new insights derived, render this book a brilliant example of AoIR scholarship.
The competition was especially hard this year, with many exceptional books submitted, making our job really difficult. Acknowledging this, the committee would like to specifically mention two books, whose innovative approach, originality and breadth of scholarship make them stand out: Helen Kennedy’s Post, Mine, Repeat, and Holly Kruse’s Off-Track and Online.
Book Award: Nicholas John, The Age of Sharing, Polity
Honourable Mention: Helen Kennedy, Post, Mine, Repeat, Palgrave
Honourable Mention: Holly Kruse, Off-Track and Online, MIT Press
The committee would like to thank all nominees for their submissions.
AoIR is grateful for the work of this year’s Book Award Committee Nancy Baym, Kate O’Riordan, and chaired by Eugenia Siapera.
