ABSTRACT
In this final part of the book, we want to shift to a consideration of the new virtual culture that has been taking shape through the 1990s. Our perspective remains a critical one, putting forward the argument that the virtual society is a pacified and managed space. In this chapter, we consider three aspects of virtual culture: first, we examine the claims that virtual technologies have created a new and dynamic knowledge space; then we look at the claims that are being made about the enhancement of communication and community, and about the possibilities of virtual politics; and, finally, we discuss critically what we regard as the technological colonisation of the future. In Chapter 11 we shall take the argument forward through a geographically-oriented analysis of the implications of new, virtual technologies for spaces and places.
