DES[ign]

In the last session, we explored the notion of authoritarian to democratic technics described in the 60’s against the backdrop of how democratic and decentralized nature of open source software development that significantly contribute to our digital infrastructure has its own challenges. We will continue the conversation with a recent article on the urban (and racial) history of a sociological concept behind the algorithm that is behind the “like” button, and a landmark text on the social construction of technology.

• Laura Kurgan, Dare Brawley, Brian House, Jia Zhang, and Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, Homophily: The Urban History of an Algorithm

• Trevor J. Pinch and Wiebe E. Bijker, The Social Construction of Facts and Artifacts: Or, How the Sociology of Science and the Sociology of Technology Might Benefit Each Other