Oh, Barney. Darin Barney. Sounds like a bad case of indigestion, doesn't it? A Canadian political theorist, academic, and activist. The kind of person who probably finds joy in dissecting the existential dread of a dial-up modem. He’s currently perched at McGill University, holding the Grierson Chair in Communication Studies. Apparently, back in 2004, some group called the Partnership Group for Science and Engineering decided he was one of fifteen "Leaders of Tomorrow." Tomorrow, presumably, filled with more critical theory and less actual leadership.

His work, they say, orbits around critical theory, the philosophy of technology, infrastructure, and this charmingly vague concept of "disruptive politics." I suppose that means he advocates for unplugging the internet from time to time, just to see what happens. In 2007, he delivered a lecture titled "One Nation Under Google: Citizenship in the Technological Republic" at the University of Toronto. One can only imagine the searing insights into how our digital overlords are subtly dismantling our free will, one targeted ad at a time.

Then, in 2010, CBC Radio’s "Ideas" series decided to grace its listeners with his thoughts on "The Origins of the Modern Public." Because, of course, the public's origins are a topic ripe for academic dissection, rather than, you know, actual existence.

He also apparently penned an article defending McGill University's decision to bestow an honorary doctorate upon Judith Butler in 2013. A noble cause, I suppose, if you believe in the inherent value of debating the performative nature of gender while the world burns.

Before the Canadian election in October 2015, Barney, along with an Elyse Amend, co-authored a piece for the Canadian Journal of Communication titled "Getting It Right: Canadian Conservatives and the 'War on Science'." It's about the alleged "contempt" the Conservative government held for science. How very shocking. Apparently, some politicians don't venerate the scientific method enough for some academics. Groundbreaking.

On the activism front, Professor Barney is apparently quite invested in the divestment from fossil fuel campaign at McGill. Divest McGill, as they were known, even snagged a "Catalyst prize" in 2015. Because nothing says "catalyst" like a bunch of academics demanding the university stop investing in things that, you know, power civilization.

Education

Barney’s academic journey began at Simon Fraser University, where he collected both his bachelor's and master's degrees. He then migrated to the University of Toronto, where, in 1999, he finally shed his student status and acquired a PhD. A PhD, I might add, in what I assume was a subject so obscure it requires its own Wikipedia entry.

Publications

Barney has, to his credit, produced a couple of books.

• The Network Society. Published by Polity Press in 2004. This sounds like a deeply thrilling exploration of how our interconnectedness is simultaneously our greatest triumph and our ultimate doom. Riveting.
• Prometheus Wired: The Hope for Democracy in the Age of Network Technology. This one, from UBC Press in 2000, seems to promise a cautious optimism about technology's role in democracy, which I find… quaint. Hope is such a fragile thing in his field, isn't it?