{"product_id":"visions-of-a-digital-nation-isbn-9780262546294","title":"Visions of a Digital Nation","description":"\u003cb\u003eWhy the privatization of British Telecom signaled a pivotal moment in the rise of neoliberalism, and how it was shaped by the longer development and digitalization of Britain’s telecommunications infrastructure.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Margaret Thatcher sold British Telecom for £3.6 billion in 1984, it became not only, at the time, the largest stock flotation in history, but also a watershed moment in the rise of neoliberalism and deregulation. In \u003ci\u003eVisions of a Digital Nation\u003c\/i\u003e, Jacob Ward offers an incisive interdisciplinary perspective on how technology prefigured this pivot. Giving due consideration to the politicians, engineers, and managers who paved the way for this historic moment, Ward illustrates how the decision validated the privatization of public utilities and tied digital technology to free market rationales.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this examination of the national and, at times, global history of technology, Ward’s approach is sweeping. Utilizing infrastructure studies, environmental history, and urban and local history, Ward explores Britain’s nationalist and welfarist plans for a digital information utility and shows how these projects contested and adapted to the “market turn” under Margaret Thatcher. Ultimately, \u003ci\u003eVisions of a Digital Nation\u003c\/i\u003e compellingly argues that politicians did not impose neoliberalism top-down, but that technology, engineers, and managers shaped these politics from the bottom up.CONTENTS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii\u003cbr\u003e ABBREVIATIONS xi\u003cbr\u003e INTRODUCTION 1\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI PLANS \u003cbr\u003e1 THE ORIGINS OF THE DIGITAL VISION 27\u003cbr\u003e 2 PLANNING THE DIGITAL FUTURE: MODELS AND MARKETS 53\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eII PROJECTS\u003cbr\u003e 3 MONOPSONY IN THE MACHINE: SUPPLIERS, LABOR, AND TELEPHONE EXCHANGES 85\u003cbr\u003e 4 WHO KILLED OPTICAL FIBER? DREAMS OF THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY 115\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIII PLACES\u003cbr\u003e 5 MARTLESHAM HEATH: NOSTALGIA, FUTURITY, AND IT PARKS 149\u003cbr\u003e 6 THE NORTH ATLANTIC: TECHNOLOGY, THE ENVIRONMENT, AND LIBERALIZATION 171\u003cbr\u003e 7 THE CITY OF LONDON: FINANCING BT’S PRIVATIZATION 199\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e CONCLUSION 221\u003cbr\u003e NOTES 231\u003cbr\u003e BIBLIOGRAPHY 275\u003cbr\u003e INDEX 309“Ward’s multi-scalar approach and careful examination of key players, infrastructures, and (de)regulation make this well-documented book an essential reference for understanding the historical interplay between digitalization and privatization.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Valérie Schafer, Professor, University of Luxembourg \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“With profound insight and clarity, \u003ci\u003eVisions of a Digital Nation\u003c\/i\u003e illustrates how Britain navigated private and public ownership during the world-historical collision between computing and communications technologies.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Andrew L. Russell, Officer-in-Charge, Dean, and Professor of History, SUNY Polytechnic Institute; coauthor of \u003ci\u003eCircuits, Packets, and Protocols\u003c\/i\u003e: \u003ci\u003eEntrepreneurs and Computer Communications, 1968-1988\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eJacob Ward is Assistant Professor in the History Department and Science, Technology and Society Studies Research Program at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Maastricht University. He is coeditor of \u003ci\u003eHistories of Technology, the Environment and Modern Britain\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"The MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304070041829,"sku":"NP9780262546294","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780262546294.jpg?v=1767743487","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/visions-of-a-digital-nation-isbn-9780262546294","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}