I’m going to this free public lecture presented by the Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies at the University of Queensland (can’t keep away from that sandstone lately)…
Professor Mark Poster
“Identity Theft, or What’s the Use of Having an Identity?”
Date: 5.30-6.30pm
Time: Thursday 7 October 2004
Venue: The Mayne Centre

This lecture examines how the crime of “Identity Theft” contributes to the redefinition of identity as something external to the self, and asks what the implications of this are in an increasingly networked and digital culture.

Abstract:
In the late 1990s, “Identity Theft” became a crime in the United States. At that time “Identity Theft” was determined to be the fastest rising crime in the country. It is a crime that depends on digital culture and networked computing. I ask how this crime works to redefine the nature of identity, how it exteriorizes identity, separating it from the interiority of consciousness and moving it into the realm of information machines. I ask as well about the implications of such theft for an emerging Western and Global culture that relies increasingly on digital media.

Thanks Mel for reminding me to post this