Memory in Motion: Archives, Technology, and the Social (Recursions)

Sociology Has Long Had Approaches To Describing The Ways In Which Social Memory Is Enacted Through Ritual, Language, Art, Architecture, And Institutions--phenomena Whose Persistence Over Time And Capacity For A Shared Storage Of The Past Was Set In Contrast To Fleeting Individual Memory. But The Question Of How New Media Changes That Equation Is Very Much Up In The Air--how, In The Age Of Digital Computing, Instant Updating, And Interconnection In Real Time, Is Social Memory Created And Enacted? This Collection Offers A Set Of Essays That Discuss The New Technology Of Memory From A Variety Of Perspectives That Explicitly Investigate Their Impact On The Very Concept Of The Social. How should we understand social memory in the age of new media? Classic sociology described the ways in which social memory was enacted through ritual, language art, architecture and institution - phenomena whose persistence over time and whose capacity for a shared storing of the past was contrasted with fleeting individual memory. Society is memory, Émile Durkheim stated. However, today's new time technologies compel us to rethink this concept of memory and its emphasis on a shared past. For in the age of digital computing, instant updating and transfer functions and interconnection through real time networks give an unprecedented priority to the present and the future, while challenging the very distinction between individual and collective memory. New media technologies raise the question of the temporalities of memory to a principle, challenging not just the classic description of social memory, but also the social ontology that it presupposes. 'Memory in Motion: Archives, Technology and the Social' discusses the new technologies of memory from perspectives that explicitly investigate their impact on the very conceptualization of the social How should we understand social memory in the age of new mediaClassic sociology described the ways in which social memory was enacted through ritual, language art, architecture and institution - phenomena whose persistence over time and whose capacity for a shared storing of the past was contrasted with fleeting individual memory. Society is memory, E+ѓmile Durkheim stated. However, today's new time technologies compel us to rethink this concept of memory and its emphasis on a shared past. For in the age of digital computing, instant updating and transfer functions and interconnection through real time networks give an unprecedented priority to the present and the future, while challenging the very distinction between individual and collective memory. New media technologies raise the question of the temporalities of memory to a principle, challenging not just the classic description of social memory, but also the social ontology that it presupposes. 'Memory in Motion: Archives, Technology and the Social' discusses the new technologies of memory from perspectives that explicitly investigate their impact on the very conceptualization of the social How do new media affect the question of social memory? Social memory is usually described as enacted through ritual, language, art, architecture, and institutions ? phenomena whose persistence over time and capacity for a shared storage of the past was set in contrast to fleeting individual memory. But the question of how social memory should be understood in an age of digital computing, instant updating, and interconnection in real time, is very much up in the air. The essays in this collection discuss the new technologies of memory from a variety of perspectives that explicitly investigate their impact on the very concept of the social. Contributors: David Berry, Ina Blom, Wolfgang Ernst, Matthew Fuller, Andrew Goffey, Liv Hausken, Yuk Hui, Trond Lundemo, Adrian Mackenzie, Sónia Matos, Richard Mills, Jussi Parikka, Eivind Røssaak, Stuart Sharples, Tiziana Terranova, Pasi Väliaho. Cover......Page 1 Table of Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 10 Ina Blom......Page 12 Oralities......Page 40 Wolfgang Ernst......Page 42 Sónia Matos......Page 62 Softwares......Page 86 Matthew Fuller, Andrew Goffey, Adrian Mackenzie, Richard Mills, and Stuart Sharples......Page 88 David M. Berry......Page 104 Lives......Page 128 Jussi Parikka......Page 130 Ina Blom......Page 154 Eivind Røssaak......Page 184 Images......Page 212 Trond Lundemo......Page 214 Pasi Väliaho......Page 238 Liv Hausken......Page 258 Socialities......Page 286 Tiziana Terranova......Page 288 Yuk Hui......Page 308 Contributors......Page 328 Name index......Page 330