
Epic Fail
How Hacktivists Expose Democracy's Flaws
$124.09
- Paperback
238 pages
- Release Date
1 December 2026
Summary
A provocative and clear-eyed exploration of hacktivism as a democratic practice.
In 1998, the early hacktivist group Electronic Disturbance Theater (EDT) burst onto the world stage with their “virtual sit-in” in support of the Zapatistas’ struggle against neoliberalism in Mexico, but by the time WikiLeaks and Anonymous made their own headlines in the 2010s, they were all but forgotten by the public. As all three groups begin to recede into the past, we are left with the question of th…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780262056427 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0262056429 |
| Author: | Ashley E. Gorham |
| Publisher: | MIT Press Ltd |
| Imprint: | MIT Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 238 |
| Release Date: | 1 December 2026 |
| Weight: | 369g |
| Dimensions: | 152mm x 229mm |
| Series: | Information Policy |

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ENDORSEMENTS
“Original, timely, and provocative, Epic Fail is an indispensable contribution to contemporary political theory and to anyone seeking to understand the promise and limits of politics in the digital age.”
—Davide Panagia, Professor and Chair of Political Science, UCLA; author of Sentimental Empiricism: Politics, Philosophy, and Criticism in Postwar France
“Epic Fail develops the to-date definitive political theory of the fraught relations between hacktivism and democracy by refracting hacker politics through the lens of contemporary democratic theory.”
—Colin Koopman, Professor of Philosophy, University of Oregon; author of Data Equals: Democratic Equality and Technological Hierarchy
Ashley E. Gorham
Ashley E. Gorham is Assistant Professor of Government at Hamilton College. In her research and teaching, she uses political theory to explore the politics of information and communications technology. She has published articles on algorithms, “big data,” and hacktivism.
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