Ideology and the Virtual City: Videogames, Power Fantasies And Neoliberalism

by Jon Bailes

Overview

'insanely readable...an instant classic for everyone who wants to understand not just games but our reality itself.' Slavoj Zizek

Ideology and the Virtual City is an exploration of modern society and the critical value of popular culture. It combines a prescient social theory that describes how ‘neoliberal’ ideology in today’s societies dominates our economic, political and cultural ideals, with an entertaining exploration of narratives, characters and play structures in some of today’s most interesting videogames. The book takes readers into a range of simulated urban environments that symbolise the hidden antagonisms of social life and create outlandish resolutions through their power fantasies. Interactive entertainment can help us understand the ways in which people relate to a modern ‘common sense’ neoliberal background, in terms of absorbing assumptions, and questioning them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781789041651
Publisher:	Collective Ink
Publication date:	09/27/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	112
File size:	568 KB

About the Author

Jon Bailes is an independent researcher and writer whose work focuses on ideology, neoliberalism and popular culture. He has a PhD in European Studies from University college London. His publications include Weapon of the Strong: Conversations on US State Terrorism (Pluto, 2013) (co-authored with Cihan Aksan), plus numerous academic journal essays and online articles. He co-runs stateofnatureblog.com, a website featuring interviews with academics on social and political theory.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Ideology and Neoliberalism 13

3 Saints Row IV: The City as Playground 26

4 Grand Theft Auto V: The City as Battleground 38

5 No More Heroes: The City as Wasteland 51

6 Persona 5: The City as Prison 65

7 Conclusion: Conformism and Critique 80

Endnotes 90