Chapter 1 - Introduction: Programmed Sociality
Chapter 2 - The Multiplicity of Algorithms
Chapter 3 - Neither Black Nor Box: (Un)knowing Algorithms
Chapter 4 - Life at the Top: Engineering Participation
Chapter 5 - Affective Landscapes: Everyday Encounters with
Algorithms
Chapter 6 - Programming the News: When Algorithms Come to
Matter
Chapter 7 - Conclusion: Algorithmic Life
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Taina Bucher is Associate Professor of Communication and IT at the University of Copenhagen. Her research focuses on the power and politics of algorithms in everyday life at the intersection of media studies, sociology and science, and technology studies.
"Taina Bucher's If...Then: Algorithmic Power and Politics is
delightful: she presents multiple engaging critiques about
algorithms while simultaneously addressing contemporary issues like
fake news, news feeds, and technology "black boxes." Her writing is
intellectually interesting and exciting ... pleasurable and
impressive scholarship. She models excellence, and Bucher shows how
we can do meaningful research in these anti-intellectual times."
--
Gregory Zobel, Technical Communication
"If ... Then is a timely and informative read for law librarians
and the people they assist. Therefore, If ... Then is a worthwhile
purchase for any law library." -- Latia L. Ward, Law Library
Journal
"Taina Bucher's If...Then is sure to become a seminal piece and
will greatly benefit future scholars and researchers who are
interested in understanding the power and politics of algorithms."
-- Benjamin Jacobsen, University of York
"This extraordinary book helps us understand how algorithms help
shape our encounters and orientations in the world. Most profound
is Bucher's methodology, for she reveals how throwing our hands up
in the face of 'unknowable,' black-boxed algorithms is a cop-out.
Opacity, secrecy and invisibility, after all, are the basic
conditions of human life. She thus offers us a three-pronged method
for taking on algorithms that are both magical and concrete, good
and
bad, technical and social: we need to reverse engineering known
unknowns; unpack our tacit knowledge about and affective
experiences with platforms; and understand algorithms as situated
practices.
Ranging from Facebook's newsfeed to fake news, Bucher helps us see
that the most important question isn't what is an algorithm, but
when and how are algorithms?"- Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, Professor of
Modern Culture and Media, Brown University
"To really understand the implications of algorithms, it is not
enough to simply know what algorithms are or how they are used. You
need a technical grounding in the logics of computation, a supple
philosophy of social power, and a feel for the contours of lived
experience. Taina Bucher has all of these. Here she offers a lucid
and eye-opening explanation of how algorithmic systems like
Facebook produce a new technical for the social."-Tarleton
Gillespie,
author of Custodians of the Internet: Platforms, Content
Moderation, and the Hidden Decisions that Shape Social Media
"If this book proves that friendship is computable, then it also
proves that scholarship is not. Taina Bucher explains the secrets
of algorithms in a lucid and nontechnical way. A delight to read a
young scholar's voice who truly understands the impact of
algorithmic culture in everyday life."-José van Dijck, Utrecht
University, author of The Culture of Connectivity and The Platform
Society
Ask a Question About this Product More... |