Introduction

This introduction summarizes the themes, purposes, and objectives of the volume. Its thesis is that the prevailing mode of discussing the nature and impact of algorithmic culture in modern society evolved from existing trends in labor history and the history of science, one distinctive element of which is a sharp interpretative binary between “craft” (soft, human judgment) and “code” (hard, mechanistic logic). The volume suggests that this binary is no longer adequate. It suggests forging a new vocabulary of algorithmic and human diversity in the code-craft space—one better equipped to guide historical investigation, allow us to grapple with algorithmic governance, and even improve our understanding of forces underlying algorithmic advancement.