Primal Scenes of Communication argues that the materiality of communication media constitute social relations and that social relations should be understood as "technology-identity complexes". This theory is employed to characterize consumer society, and the social movements that criticize consumer society, as a unique epoch of communication.

Ian Angus is Associate Professor of Humanities and Sociology at Simon Fraser University. He is the author of many books, including most recently A Border Within: National Identity, Cultural Plurality and Wilderness.