 SYLLABUS
"The Politics of Code"
(Topics in Digital Media, E38.2040.001)
Note: course was formerly E38.2088
Fall 2005
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Class Time: Wednesdays 4:55pm - 7:05pm
Class Location: Waverly Building, Room 567
Office Hours: Wednesdays by appointment
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This seminar is on political critiques of "new" media. We begin with an
overview of cybernetics, information theory, systems theory, and
distributed communications networks. Next, we examine the rise of
immaterial labor in the service economies and the extension of codified
labor practices into the domain of life itself. Section three considers
the ramifications of informatic capture and the formation of coded
objects and bodies. Finally, we explore networked struggle and, through
it, a political theory of the present moment. The seminar
will favor close readings of specific technologies, rather than social
or cultural claims about the information age.
September 7
Course introduction.
I. Signals and Systems
September 14
Manuel De Landa, War in the Age of Intelligent Machines.
September 21
Norbert Wiener, "Introduction," Cybernetics, pp. 1-29 (R).
Warren Weaver, "Recent Contributions to the Mathematical Theory of Communication," The Mathematical Theory of Communication, pp. 1-28 (R).
Katherine Hayles, "Contesting for the Body of Information," How We Became Posthuman, pp. 50-83 (R).
Vilém Flusser, "On the Theory of Communication," Writings, pp. 9-20 (R).
Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Chapters 1 and 2, General System Theory, pp. 3-53 (R).
September 22 — Guest Speaker: Vivian Sobchack (Pless Hall Lounge, 6pm)
September 28
Paul Baran, "On Distributed Communications" (R).
Peter Galison, "War Against the Center," Grey Room 4, pp. 7-33 (R).
Eric Hall, Internet Core Protocols, pp. 1-30 (R).
W. Richard Stevens, TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1, pp. 1-20 (R).
October 5
Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, "On Software, or the Persistence of Visual Knowledge," Grey Room 18, pp. 26-51 (R).
Friedrich Kittler, "There Is No Software" (R).
Gene Kan, "Gnutella," Peer-to-Peer, pp. 94-122 (R).
Adrian Mackenzie, "The Performativity of Code: Software and Cultures of Circulation," Theory Culture and Society, 2005, 22: 71-92 (R).
II. Labor, Work, Machines
October 12
Karl Marx, "Chapter 1: The Commodity," Capital, Vol. 1, pp. 125-177 (R).
Karl Marx, "Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts" (Excerpt), Early Writings, pp. 279-334 (R).
Karl Marx, (fragments on machines), Grundrisse, pp. 690-706 (R).
October 19
Alan Liu, The Laws of Cool.
October 26 — Guest Speaker: Katherine Hayles (Jurow Hall, 6pm)
McKenzie Wark, A Hacker Manifesto.
Eben Moglen "The dotCommunist Manifesto" (R).
November 2
Stuart Hall, "Encoding/decoding" (R).
Eugene Thacker, "What is Biomedia?" Biomedia, pp. 1-31 (R).
Lily Kay, "Cynernetics, Information, Life: The Emergence of Scriptural Representations of Heredity," Configurations 5.1 (1997): 23-91 (R).
III. Capturing with Code
November 9
bell hooks, "In Our Glory: Photography and Black Life," Picturing Us, pp. 42-53 (R).
John Tagg, "A Means of Surveillance: Photography as Evidence in Law," Burden of Representation, pp. 66-102 (R).
Allucquere Rosanne Stone, "Will the Real Body Please Stand Up?," Cyberspace: First Steps, pp. 81-118 (R).
November 16
Lisa Nakamura, "Menu-Driven Identities: Making Race Happen Online," Cybertypes, pp. 101-135 (R).
Phil Agre, "Surveillance and Capture," The New Media Reader, pp. 737-760 (R).
Phil Agre, "Your Face Is Not a Bar Code: Arguments Against Automatic Face Recognition in Public Places" (R).
IV. Networks Fighting Networks
November 30
Gilles Deleuze, "Postscript on Control Societies," Negotiations, pp. 177-182 (R).
Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, "Preface," "Part 1: The Political Constitution of the Present," Empire, 3-66 (R).
Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, "Counterinsurgencies," Multitude, pp. 36-95 (R).
John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt, "The Advent of Netwar (Revisited)," Networks and Netwars, pp. 1-25 (R).
December 7
Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, "Introduction: Rhizome," A Thousand Plateaus, pp. 3-25 (R).
Critical Art Ensemble, "Electronic Civil Disobedience," Electronic Civil Disobedience and Other Unpopular Ideas, pp. 7-34 (R).
Hakim Bey, "Temporary Autonomous Zone," T.A.Z., pp. 97-134 (R).
David Garcia and Geert Lovink, "The ABC of Tactical Media," "The DEF of Tactical Media" (R).
Jo Freeman, "The Tyranny of Structurelessness" (R).
December 14
Open discussion and review.
Friday, December 16, 5pm — All papers due.
Note: "(R)" indicates that the reading is contained in the course reader.
REQUIREMENTS
Reading: Thorough coverage of the week's required
reading in advance of class is of utmost importance. Readings should be
brought to class for discussion.
Discussion: Each week, two students will be responsible for discussion
questions. The week's discussion leaders will email discussion questions to the course listserv (one
page maximum) on or before the Monday prior to class. Each student will lead discussion
at least twice during the semester.
Writing: Each student should write a total of 16-20 pages for the
semester, preferably split into two shorter papers of 8-10 pages each.
Suggested paper topics will be provided, but students are also
encouraged to create their own topics. All papers should demonstrate a
close reading of the required materials and
exhibit a method of critical analysis.
REQUIRED MATERIALS
Course Reader.
Manuel De Landa, War in the Age of Intelligent Machines.
Alan Liu, The Laws of Cool.
McKenzie Wark, A Hacker Manifesto.
OPTIONAL MATERIALS
Ludwig von Bertalanffy, General System Theory.
Paolo Virno, A Grammar of the Multitude.
Norbert Weiner, The Human Use of Human Beings.
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