Howard, Philip N. 1970-

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Howard, Philip N. 1970-

PERSONAL:

Born December 9, 1970. Education: University of Toronto, B.A., 1993; London School of Economics and Political Science, M.Sc., 1994; Northwestern University, Ph.D., 2002.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of Communication, 141 Communications Bldg., Box 353740, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-3740. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Political scientist, sociologist, educator, and writer. Northwestern University, Evanston/Chicago, IL, lecturer in department of sociology, 1999-2001; University of Washington, Seattle, department of communication, assistant professor, 2002—; Illinois Institute of Technology, Waukegan, lecturer, 2000; Pew Trusts' Internet and American Life Project, research fellow, 2000-01. Work-related activities include convener for Chicago Ethnography Conference I, Northwestern University, Evanston, February, 1999; Canadian Studies Advisory Board, University of Washington, Seattle; and Center for Internet Studies Advisory Board, University of Washington.

MEMBER:

American Sociological Association, Association of Internet Researchers, International Communication Association, International Studies Association, National Communication Association.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Recipient of scholarships, including Harold Innis Award, Innis College, University of Toronto, 1993; Full University Scholarship, Army Research Institute, 1997-2002.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with Steve Jones) Society Online: The Internet in Context, Sage (Thousand Oaks, CA), 2004.

New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen, Cambridge University Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to professional journals, including American Behavioral Scientist, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and New Media & Society. Reviewer for Ethnography, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Journal of Environment & Development, Millennium, New Media & Society, Social Forces, Sociological Focus, and Southeastern Political Science Review; member of editorial board of Journal of Latin American Urban Studies.

SIDELIGHTS:

A political and social scientist, Philip N. Howard is the editor, with Steve Jones, of Society Online: The Internet in Context and the author of New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen. In Society Online, Howard and Jones present a series of essays focusing on how new media technologies have diffused throughout society, becoming rapidly and deeply embedded in society's organizations and institutions in the process. Despite the title, the essays do not focus exclusively on the Internet or a particular technology but on a wide range of "new media" and how these new media affect the community, political, economic, personal, and global spheres of peoples' social lives.

Featuring contributions from scholars from across the social sciences using a wide range of research techniques, the book address issues in the fields of communication, sociology, political science, anthropology, cultural studies, information sciences, and American studies. For example, in the realm of politics, one essay focuses on issues such as how the Internet may affect voter turnout. Another essayist examines shopping online and the female teen cyberculture. Music and religion on the Internet are also examined, as well as the future of the Internet and its potential effects on society. "Society Online is an interesting work, in part because of its novel use of Internet resources, specifically the Pew Internet and American Life project," wrote John Rothfork on the Education Reviews Web site.

In his book New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen, the author continues with his focus on information technology as he discusses how this technology is used by political powers to form public opinion and structure political culture in the United States. Garnering evidence from ethnographic studies, survey data, and social network analysis, the author focuses on political campaigning and the way campaigns changed from 1996 to 2004 as campaign teams adopted digital technologies to improve outreach and fundraising. The author also explores how digital technologies have influenced organizational behavior within campaigns. "In this unique study of the use of new media in political elections, Howard … draws our attention to the harmful potential of the internet on politics," wrote Paul Zube in the International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics. "Resisting the utopian hopes of [some] scholars …, who claimed that the internet can engage, inform and empower citizens, Howard reminds us that political elites are very much still part of the political campaign equation."

In fact, the author argues that the new system of producing political culture has significant implications for the meaning of citizenship and the basis of representation. Among the specific topics addressed by the author is the relationship between political communication and information technology, the "hypermedia" (Internet and related digital technologies) campaign, and managed citizenship and its relationship to information technology. In the process, the author ferrets out the difference between hypermedia and traditional campaigns, describes the hypermedia "community," and explores the bad ways in which hypermedia manage citizens.

"The strengths of this book are many," wrote John Sides in the Political Science Quarterly. "It overflows with provocative theoretical claims. Future work on the nexus of the Internet and politics must grapple with Howard's ideas. His interviews with consultants and case studies of organizations produce fascinating insights." Other reviewers also had high praise for the author's analysis. Andrew Chadwick, for example, wrote in the European Journal of Communication: "This is an important book. Philip Howard provides what is arguably the first rigorous insider account of the dynamics of campaign communication in the Internet age. Armed with an innovative methodology, which he terms ‘network ethnography’, Howard takes us on a wonderfully written journey through the Internet campaigns of the US major elections since 1998."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice, June, 2004, J.L. Croissant, review of Society Online: The Internet in Context, p. 1922; June, 2006, S.E. Frantzich, review of New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen, p. 1902; June, 2007, J.L. Croissant, review of Society Online, p. 1657.

Contemporary Sociology, July, 2005, Robert E. Wood, review of Society Online, p. 386.

European Journal of Communication, Volume 22, number 2, 2007, Andrew Chadwick, review of New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen, p. 239.

International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics, Volume 2, number 3, 2006, Paul Zube, review of New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen, p. 362.

Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, winter, 2005, David J. Gunkel, review of Society Online, p. 416.

Political Communication, Volume 24, number 4, 2006, David Tewksbury, review of New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen, p. 448.

Political Science Quarterly, fall, 2006, John Sides, review of New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen, p. 529.

Reference & Research Book News, February, 2004, review of Society Online, p. 124; February, 2006, review of New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen.