Staff Profile

Joss Hands is Reader in Critical Theory. He teaches primarily on the BA Media, Communication and Cultural Studies, as well as supervising MA and PhD students across the Media, Culture, Heritage subject area.   

Joss's research interests are in critical theory, digital culture and politics - with a particular interest in the use of digital media for democracy, the public sphere and collective action - he has published widely on these topics including the books @ is For Activism (2011) and Gadget Consciousness (2019). He is also series editor of the Pluto Press book series Digital Barricades.

Joss is currently supervising PhD students in areas such as eDemocracy and the cultural politics of digital labour. He is interested in supervising PhDs in critical theory, digital culture, media and activism, media and democracy, the public sphere and other related areas. 

Joss's research interests are in critical theory, digital culture and politics.

Joss's focus has been on the use of digital media for the expression of dissent and the organisation of resistance movements as well as the application of technology in more formal democratic procedures, specifically the role of the Internet in contributing to the development of the public sphere. His recent research has been on the uses of digital media in collective consciousness and action, with a focus on the relationship of the brain with digital gadgets, systems and cultures. 

He has published articles, review essays and reviews in journals such as Philosophy and Social Criticism, First Monday, Information, Communication and Society, Popular Communication and Culture, Theory and Critique. He Co-Edited a special issue of Culture Machine on 'Platform Politics' that explored the place of social media platforms in the evolution of digital politics and social movements. He is author of the widely cited book on new media and activism @ is For Activism: Dissent, Resistance and Rebellion in a Digital Culture, published by Pluto Press in 2011 and 'Gadget Consciousness: Collective Thought, Will and Action in the Age of Social Media' on the place of digital media in augmenting intelligence and new forms of collective action and cooperation. He has written a short companion piece called 'Gadgets, Power and the New Modes of Political Consciousness' for the Pluto Press website, touching on key themes of the book.  

Joss was principal investigator for a two year AHRC funded project 'Exploring New Configurations of Network Politics', which included a number of international conferences in the UK and North America and involved contributions from leading researchers, activists and practitioners from around the world.

Joss has recently edited and contributed to a special issue of Javnost: The Public, titled 'Pandemic Publics' (2022), on the impact of COVID-19 on the digital public sphere.

His current research project is on the history of the ideological use of brain sciences. A book on this topic, The Public Brain: Ideology, Social Media and the Neuroscientific Turn, is in preparation and contracted with Rowman and Littlefield.

He is series editor of the Pluto Press book series 'Digital Barricades: Interventions in Digital Culture and Politics.

Module Leader

MCH 2087 - Media and Democracy

MCH 3074 - Critical Approaches to Media, Communication and Culture

Module Tutor

MCH 3073 Media Research Dissertation

MCH 3072 Journalism and Media Research Dissertation

MCH 8199 Dissertation for MA Media and Public Relations

MCH 8299 Dissertation for MA Media and Journalism

• Articles

  • Hands J. Public Reason in the Time of COVID-19. Javnost: The Public 2022, 29(2), 115-129.
  • Hands J. Marx, Materialism and the Brain: Determination in the Last Instance?. triple C: Communication, Capitalism & Critique 2018, 16(2), 588-597.
  • Hands J. From Cultural to New Materialism and Back: The Enduring Legacy of Raymond Williams. Culture, Theory and Critique 2015, 56(2), 133-148.
  • Hands J. General Intellect or Collective Idiocy? Digital Mobs and Social Media Mobilisation. Popular Communication 2014, 12(4), 237-250.
  • Hands J. Platform Communism. Culture Machine 2013, 14.
  • Hands J. Introduction: Power, Politics and Platformativity. Culture Machine 2013, 14.
  • Hands J. Device Consciousness and Collective Volition. M/C Journal 2013, 16(6).
  • Hands J. Civil Society, Cosmopolitics and the Net: The Legacy of 15 February 2003. Information, Communication and Society 2006, 9(2), 224-243.
  • Hands J. E-Deliberation and Local Governance: The Role of Computer Mediated Communication in Local Democratic Participation in the United Kingdom. First Monday 2005, 10(7).
  • Hands J. 9/11 and the Project of Modernity. Philosophy and Social Criticism 2005, 31(3), 381-387.

• Authored Books

  • Hands J. Gadget Consciousness: Collective Thought, Will and Action in the Age Of Social Media. London, UK: Pluto Press, 2019.
  • Hands J. @ is For Activism: Dissent Resistance and Rebellion in a Digital Culture. London: Pluto Press, 2011.

• Book Chapters

  • Hands J. The Pedagogy of the Distressed: Truth-Twisters and the Toxification of Higher Eduction. In: Tina Sikka; Gareth Longstaff; Steve Walls, ed. Disrupted Knowledge: Scholarship in a Time of Change. Brill, 2023, pp.78-96.
  • Hands J. Politics and New Media. In: The Johns Hopkins Guide to Digital Media. Baltimore, MD, USA: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014.
  • Hands Joss. Social Media and the Mobilization of the Masses. In: Seijdel, Jorinde; Kluitenberg, Eric, ed. Open 21: (Im)Mobility - Exploring the Limits of Hypermobility. Amsterdam: NAi Publishers, 2011, pp.106-11-.
  • Hands J. Between Agonsitic and Deliberative Politics: Towards a Radical eDemocracy. In: Dahlberg, L; Siapera, E, ed. Radical Democracy and the Internet. Basingstoke: Palsgrave, 2007.
  • Hands J. Living With E-Utopia: Camus, Habermas and the Politics of Virtual Dissent. In: Hands, J; Siapera, E, ed. At the Interface: Continuity and Transformation in Culture and Politics. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2004.

• Edited Book

  • Hands J, Siapera E, ed. At the Interface: Continuity and Transformation in Culture and Politics. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2004.