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The Digital Transformation of the Public Sphere pp 83–106Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Online Content Control, Memory and Community Isolation

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Abstract

Artur Alves discusses a 2011 defamation case against a Portuguese online community and association of precarious workers (Precários Inflexíveis). He argues that prospects for a strengthening of community cannot overlook the facts of contemporary life at the margins—connectivity without leisure, work without security, presence without sense of belonging. If community-building and identity-sharing move online to overcome these dilemmas, socio-technological systems should be revised so as to not hinder the prospects of a more open and plural public life.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to acknowledge the representatives of the Precários Inflexíveis association for their answers to queries.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Concordia University, Montréal, Québec, Canada

    Artur de Matos Alves

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  1. Artur de Matos Alves
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom

    Athina Karatzogianni

  2. University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Dennis Nguyen

  3. University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom

    Elisa Serafinelli

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de Matos Alves, A. (2016). Online Content Control, Memory and Community Isolation. In: Karatzogianni, A., Nguyen, D., Serafinelli, E. (eds) The Digital Transformation of the Public Sphere. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50456-2_5

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