Dream Lovers: The Gamification of Relationships (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780745344874)

'An exciting, astute analysis of how our capacity for desire has been slotted into the grooves of digital capitalism, and made to work for profit - from porn to Pok駑on' - Richard Seymour

We are in the middle of a 'desirevolution' - a fundamental and political transformation of the way we desire as human beings. Perhaps as always, new technologies - with their associated and inherited political biases - are organizing and mapping the future. What we don't seem to notice is that the primary way in which our lives are being transformed is through the manipulation and control of desire itself.

Our very impulses, drives and urges are 'gamified' to suit particular economic and political agendas, changing the way we relate to everything from lovers and friends to food and politicians. Digital technologies are transforming the subject at the deepest level of desire - re-mapping its libidinal economy - in ways never before imagined possible.

From sexbots to smart condoms, fitbits to VR simulators and AI to dating algorithms, the 'love industries' are at the heart of the future smart city and the social fabric of everyday life. This book considers these emergent technologies and what they mean for the future of love, desire, work and capitalism.

Author: Alfie Bown
ISBN-10: 0745344879
ISBN-13: 9780745344874
Publisher: Pluto Press (UK)
Language: English
Published: 05/20/2022
Pages: 160
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.39lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.20w x 0.50d