Author: javierderivera
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The Googlization of Everything – Book Review
By Javier de Rivera. Originally published in The International Journal of Communication, of USC Annenberg. The basic thesis of this book is that Google assumes roles and projects that, because of their central importance in society, should be carried out and led by public institutions, or at least subjected to regulations that assure the interests…
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Reason Against the Machine
By Javier de Rivera Any technological device is the result of a social action, a certain set of relations, interests and motivations that produces it, even if the final result does not correspond to the original intentions of the creators. Mechanisms and devices do not have agency, because they do not have interests and are…
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Non-human agency, but human after all
By Javier de Rivera This paper, HUMAN AFTER ALL, overviews some issues addressed in Johanna Drucker\’s PhD seminar in Information Studies at UCLA (Spring 2013) around the topic of New Materialisms. In it, I critique and argue against the influence of Latour\’s philosophy on some authors of New Materialisms and of some accounts of…
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Science, Technology and Society
This is the final paper on Science and Technology Studies that I wrote for Jean François Blanchette class at the Information Studies Department at UCLA. It is a general reflection about the STS field that goes around the differences implied in the meaning of the acronym S.T.S. The main argument is that the name of…
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Book Review, The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood. By James Gleick
What is information? This is probably the main question driving the reader throughout the book, which is presented as a comprehensive review of the concept of information, its history, meaning and role in modern society. In 437 pages, James Gleick takes the reader through the discovery of the “historicity” of the concept of information, exposed…
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Book Review: African Fractals, by Ron Eglash
Download the COMPLETE BOOK REVIEW African Fractals is an interesting book about ethno-mathematics in Africa. It is about about the presence of advanced mathematical concepts in traditional African cultures, and uses these findings as a way of empowerment for African cultures – diaspora included. It is a risky move, because it accepts the presence of…
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Book Review: The Net Delusion, by Evgeny Morozov
By Javier de Rivera Originally written in socialmediasociology.com in Jan 3, 2012. Considered one of the best books of the year 2011 by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, The Net Delusion offers an interesting analysis of the relation between Internet development and its political consequences, with an special emphasis in what is happening in authoritarian governments.…
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Book Review: The Cybernetic Brain, by Andrew Pickering
Download the COMPLETE book review: The Cybernetic Brain, by Pickering In this critical review I try to point out the flaws of the book and expose the weak arguments of Pickering. The book is awful. It is probably one of the worst books I have read. Aside from the egotistic and narcissistic tone of Pickering,…
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Book Review: Aramis or the love for technology, Bruno Latour.
By Javier de Rivera In this book, Latour addresses the social and political factors implicated in the development of technological projects. To such an end, he uses the case study of a failed technological project: Aramis, an innovative public transportation system developed in France between 1972 and 1987 that, despite its apparent technological interest and…