Animal Spirits: A Bestiary of the Commons (Studies in Network Cultures)

During a time when pop stars become famous thanks to sex tapes that have been leaked online, it is clear that the Internet is not immune to the draw of the media. Yet art, academia and activism continue to promote the Internet as an untouched utopia. Animal Spirits: A Bestiary of the Commons addresses the double standard dominating contemporary media discourse and shatters the myths of creative commons, free software and open-source movements, suggesting that "free culture" is an economic parasite siphoning money through peer-to-peer networks. Theorist and digital fetishist Matteo Pasquinelli uses the metaphor of the animal body--which Paul Virilio has characterized as instinctual and reactionary--to counter what he sees as a capitalist exploitation of collective imagery, calling for a radical new understanding of the forces at work behind the digital economy and cultural production.