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Joss Hands is Reader in Critical Theory and Head of Research for the Media, Culture, Heritage subject area. He teaches primarily on the BA Media, Communication and Cultural Studies, as well as supervising MA and PhD students across the Media, Culture, Heritage subject area.  

Joss's research interests are in critical theory, digital culture and politics - with a particular interest in the use of digital media for democracy, the public sphere and collective action - he has published widely on these topics including the books @ is For Activism (2011), Gadget Consciousness (2019) and his new book The Public Brain (2025). He was also series editor of the Pluto Press book series Digital Barricades.

Joss is currently supervising PhD students in areas such as eDemocracy and the cultural politics of digital labour. He is interested in supervising PhDs in critical theory, digital culture, media and activism, media and democracy, the public sphere and other related areas. 

Joss's research interests are in critical theory, digital culture and politics.

Joss's focus has been on the use of digital media for the expression of dissent and the organisation of resistance movements as well as the application of technology in more formal democratic procedures, specifically the role of the Internet in contributing to the development of the public sphere. His recent research has been on the uses of digital media in collective consciousness and action, with a focus on the relationship of the brain with digital gadgets, systems and cultures. 

He has published articles, review essays and reviews in journals such as Philosophy and Social Criticism, First Monday, Information, Communication and Society, Popular Communication and Culture, Theory and Critique. He Co-Edited a special issue of Culture Machine on  that explored the place of social media platforms in the evolution of digital politics and social movements. He is author of the widely cited book on new media and activism, published by Pluto Press in 2011 and ' on the place of digital media in augmenting intelligence and new forms of collective action and cooperation. He has written a short companion piece called  for the Pluto Press website, touching on key themes of the book  

Joss was principal investigator for a two year AHRC funded project 'Exploring New Configurations of Network Politics', which included a number of international conferences in the UK and North America and involved contributions from leading researchers, activists and practitioners from around the world.

Joss edited and contributed to a special issue of Javnost: The Public, titled '' (2022), on the impact of COVID-19 on the digital public sphere.

He is series editor of the Pluto Press book series .

His most current research is on the history of the ideological use of brain sciences. He has recently completed a book on this topic, The Public Brain: Ideology and the Neuroscientific Turn from the Polis to Platforms, which is forthcoming is 2025 with Rowman and Littlefield.

Module Leader

MCH 1023 - Media Studies

MCH 8163 - News and Journalism

Module Tutor

MCH 1026 Social and Cultural Studies

MCH 3073 Media Research Dissertation

MCH 3072 Journalism and Media Research Dissertation

MCH 8199 Dissertation for MA Media and Public Relations

MCH 8299 Dissertation for MA Media and Journalism

• Articles

  • Hands J. . Javnost: The Public 2022, 29(2), 115-129.
  • Hands J. . triple C: Communication, Capitalism & Critique 2018, 16(2), 588-597.
  • Hands J. . Culture, Theory and Critique 2015, 56(2), 133-148.
  • Hands J. . Popular Communication 2014, 12(4), 237-250.
  • Hands J. Platform Communism. Culture Machine 2013, 14.
  • Hands J. Introduction: Power, Politics and Platformativity. Culture Machine 2013, 14.
  • Hands J. Device Consciousness and Collective Volition. M/C Journal 2013, 16(6).
  • Hands J. Civil Society, Cosmopolitics and the Net: The Legacy of 15 February 2003. Information, Communication and Society 2006, 9(2), 224-243.
  • Hands J. E-Deliberation and Local Governance: The Role of Computer Mediated Communication in Local Democratic Participation in the United Kingdom. First Monday 2005, 10(7).
  • Hands J. 9/11 and the Project of Modernity. Philosophy and Social Criticism 2005, 31(3), 381-387.

• Authored Books

  • Hands J. . New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2025.
  • Hands J. . London, UK: Pluto Press, 2019.
  • Hands J. @ is For Activism: Dissent Resistance and Rebellion in a Digital Culture. London: Pluto Press, 2011.

• Book Chapters

  • Hands J. . In: Tina Sikka; Gareth Longstaff; Steve Walls, ed. Disrupted Knowledge: Scholarship in a Time of Change. Brill, 2023, pp.78-96.
  • Hands J. . In: The Johns Hopkins Guide to Digital Media. Baltimore, MD, USA: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014.
  • Hands Joss. Social Media and the Mobilization of the Masses. In: Seijdel, Jorinde; Kluitenberg, Eric, ed. Open 21: (Im)Mobility - Exploring the Limits of Hypermobility. Amsterdam: NAi Publishers, 2011, pp.106-11-.
  • Hands J. Between Agonsitic and Deliberative Politics: Towards a Radical eDemocracy. In: Dahlberg, L; Siapera, E, ed. Radical Democracy and the Internet. Basingstoke: Palsgrave, 2007.
  • Hands J. Living With E-Utopia: Camus, Habermas and the Politics of Virtual Dissent. In: Hands, J; Siapera, E, ed. At the Interface: Continuity and Transformation in Culture and Politics. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2004.

• Edited Book

  • Hands J, Siapera E, ed. At the Interface: Continuity and Transformation in Culture and Politics. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2004.