Cutting-edge historians explore ideas, communities, and
technologies around modern computing to explore how computers
mediate social relations. Computers have been framed both as a
mirror for the human mind and as an irreducible other that
humanness is defined against, depending on different historical
definitions of "humanness." They can serve both liberation and
control because some people's freedom has historically been
predicated on controlling others. Historians of computing return
again and again to these contradictions, as they often reveal
deeper structures. Using twin frameworks of abstraction and
embodiment, a reformulation of the old mind-body dichotomy, this
anthology examines how social relations are enacted in and through
computing. The authors examining "Abstraction" revisit central
concepts in computing, including "algorithm," "program," "clone,"
and "risk." In doing so, they demonstrate how the meanings of these
terms reflect power relations and social identities. The section on
"Embodiments" focuses on sensory aspects of using computers as well
as the ways in which gender, race, and other identities have shaped
the opportunities and embodied experiences of computer workers and
users. Offering a rich and diverse set of studies in new areas, the
book explores such disparate themes as disability, the influence of
the punk movement, working mothers as technical innovators, and
gaming behind the Iron Curtain. Abstractions and Embodiments
reimagines computing history by questioning canonical
interpretations, foregrounding new actors and contexts, and
highlighting neglected aspects of computing as an embodied
experience. It makes the profound case that both technology and the
body are culturally shaped and that there can be no clear
distinction between social, intellectual, and technical aspects of
computing. Contributors: Janet Abbate, Marc Aidinoff, Troy Kaighin
Astarte, Ekaterina Babinsteva, Andre Brock, Maarten Bullynck,
Jiahui Chan, Gerardo Con Diaz, Liesbeth De Mol, Stephanie Dick,
Kelcey Gibbons, Elyse Graham, Michael J. Halvorson, Mar Hicks,
Scott Kushner, Xiaochang Li, Zachary Loeb, Lisa Nakamura, Tiffany
Nichols, Laine Nooney, Elizabeth Petrick, Cierra Robson, Hallam
Stevens, Jaroslav Svelch
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