The Fellowship of the Net

Duff, Alistair S.

Abstract

The article revisits the tradition of religious socialism as a potential resource for the information age. It begins with a detailed exposition and defence of the ideas of network society theorist Manuel Castells. However, the article questions Castells’ reliance on contemporary social movements as a response to what he calls the bipolar opposition between the net and the self. Arguing for a more universal and ontological solution, it seeks to mobilise the nineteenth-century Christian socialism of Maurice, Ludlow and Kingsley, specifically their powerful doctrine of mere brotherhood. Updated as the fellowship of the net, the brotherhood and sisterhood of humankind under the fatherhood of God turns into an attractive and plausible twenty-first century ideal.

Citation

Duff, A. S. (2017). The Fellowship of the Net. International Journal of Public Theology, 11(2), 188-210. https://doi.org/10.1163/15697320-12341482

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 1, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jun 2, 2017
• Publication Date: Jun 2, 2017
• Deposit Date: Apr 7, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 3, 2019
• Journal: International Journal of Public Theology
• Print ISSN: 1872-5171
• Electronic ISSN: 1569-7320
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 188-210
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/15697320-12341482
• Keywords: information technology; network society; fellowship of the net; Christian socialism; brotherhood of man
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/826791
• Contract Date: Apr 11, 2017