My next book, The Reaction Economy: Searching for Humanity in an Age of Screens, will be published by Princeton University Press in April 2027
“At equal ease with Bertolt Brecht and Mr. Beast, William Davies offers genesis stories for our age of TikTok jump scares, AI sycophants and White House trolls. A book buzzing with intelligence and insights.”—Quinn Slobodian, author of Hayek’s Bastards
“William Davies is one of our most incisive theorists of the social-psychic effects of new technologies embedded in capital. The Reaction Economy is his best book yet. Deeply researched and compellingly written, it is indispensable for grasping how ‘reaction’ has displaced the acting subject and become a fundamental dynamic of profit and power.”—Wendy Brown, author of Nihilistic Times
“William Davies provides an indispensable guide to the degeneration of politics and the dissolution of the public sphere. From watchalongs and unboxing videos through the apocalyptic dramaturgy of rage and laughter that is engulfing us, he explains technology’s reworking of the culture of authenticity into a monstrous, destructive engine, as lethal as it is wasteful. Insightfully, he perceives some fruitful directions in which the search for humanity might continue.”—Paul Gilroy, author of Darker than Blue
“If you really want to understand social media and its consequences, you need to read this insightful book!”—Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, coauthor of Big Data
“Reading William Davies is always illuminating. This brilliant book examines how technology has inflated, mechanised and commodified how we react to one another, until those reactions form a closed world from which anger and resentment can no longer dissipate. How might we get out? Read the book, with all the urgency it deserves.”—Marion Fourcade, coauthor of The Ordinal Society
