Orwell's Revenge

In this fascinating book, Huber continues his critique of the “culture as surveillance” thesis. In Against Orwell, he presents readers with a computerized vision of 1984 that is focused on the critical issue of control rather than its apparatus. The telescreen becomes an agent of empowerment in a partnership between the human and the machine that produces a new form of social existence characterized by conflict rather than domination, equality rather than hierarchy. Unlike earlier critics who have assumed the inevitability of a master-slave relationship between person and computer, Huber explores the far more interesting possibility that the computer will join us as a partner, much like Orwell's Winston Smith did in his imaginary revolt against Big Brother.