Sociotechnocanonicon

The Sociotechnocanonicon Great Books Discussion Series allows members of the CDSC to build their familiarity with some of the classic works which are foundational to the collective's research program.

The discussions are open to all, and facilitated by senior members of CDSC in order to introduce the broader context of the work. Meetings are held in person and aired over Jitsi for remote participation. Themes we often try to cover including collective action, social movements, participatory-democracy, networks, sociomateriality, sociotechnical systems, and cooperation.

This page covers the Summer 2022 version of the reading group. Links to previous years are at the bottom of the page.

2023 Details

 * [2023-07-03] The Dispossessed (Ursula K. LeGuin)
 * [2023-07-17] Trust in Numbers by Theodore M. Porter
 * [2023-07-31] Foundations of Social Theory by James Coleman selections: pages 1-54, 65-71, 91-108, 119-321 (selections are inspired by this syllabus from Paul DiMiaggio)
 * Not required but maybe interesting to read would be these other pieces suggested by DiMaggio:
 * - Symposium on Coleman. 1992. Theory and Society 21: 263-83 (1992).
 * - Symposium on Coleman. 1990. Contemporary Sociology 19: 783-88.
 * - Frank, Robert H. 1992. “Melding Sociology and Economics: James Coleman’s Foundations of Social Theory. Journal of Economic Literature 30: 147-70.
 * - Macy, Michael and Andreas Flache. 1995. “Beyond Rationality in Models of Choice.” Annual Rev. of Sociology 21: 73-92.
 * - Hechter, Michael and S. Kanazawa. 1997. “Sociological Rational Choice Theory.” Annual Rev. of Sociology 23: 191-214.


 * [2023-08-14] Foundations of Social Theory (part 2)
 * [2023-08-28] Behind the Screen by Sarah T. Roberts

2023 Suggestions

 * Foundations of Social Theory by James Coleman — This is the shipyard that produced Coleman's boat! Haomin wants to read it. Description: "Combining principles of individual rational choice with a sociological conception of collective action, James Coleman recasts social theory in a bold new way. The result is a landmark in sociological theory, capable of describing both stability and change in social systems." —m a k o ๛  02:22, 26 April 2023 (CEST)
 * I read this for generals, would read again with a group. Kaylea (talk) 02:35, 26 April 2023 (CEST)
 * +1s mdb


 * Behind the Screen by Sarah T. Roberts — This is an ethnographic study on how content moderation is conducted on the Internet. It is quite of interest because oftentimes how content moderation is done is quite like a "black box", while this study opens it for us and provides insights on the governance of online communities. — from Yibin


 * Trust in Numbers by Theodore M. Porter — This is a history of quantification in social institutions and social science. I'm planning on reading this with McKane in August and if others are interested we can do it for STC. I'm interested in this for understanding the practice, role, and limitations of quantitative social science. — from Nate


 * It was fun to kick things off with some fiction last time 'round. Maybe we can do that again! Kaylea (talk) 21:01, 22 May 2023 (CEST)
 * The Disposessed (Ursula K. LeGuin) (soft agreement on this from CDSC meeting -mdb)
 * Infomocracy (Malka Older)
 * Ancillary Sword (Ann Leckie)

2022 Details
We will be meeting after the Monday softblock. Meetings will be 13:00 ET / 12:00 CT / 10:00 PT.

Notes: https://etherpad.communitydata.science/p/sociotechnocanonicon_2022

Meeting Dates

 * 06/27 - Exhilation by Ted Chiang
 * 07/04 - No meeting
 * 07/11 - The Sciences of the Artificial (1-4)
 * 07/18 - The Sciences of the Artificial (5-8)
 * 07/25 - The Conversational Firm: Rethinking Bureaucracy in the Age of Social Media (Intro-4)
 * 08/01 - The Conversational Firm: Rethinking Bureaucracy in the Age of Social Media (5-9). The methodological appendix is worth reading imo (-- Nate)
 * 08/08 - Dividing the Waters (1-8)
 * 08/15 - Dividing the Waters (8-15)
 * 08/22 - The Duality of Technology: Rethinking the Concept of Technology in Organizations

2022 Suggestions
Most popular suggestions (as of 2022-06-28):
 * The Duality of Technology (4)
 * Conversational Firm (4)
 * Dividing the Waters (4)
 * The Sciences of the Artificial (4)
 * Union Democracy (3)
 * Governing the Commons (2)
 * Yochai Benkler (2)
 * Social Emergence (2)
 * Discriminating Data (2)


 * Union Democracy: The Inside Politics of the International Typographical Union by Seymour Martin Lipset, Martin Trow & James Coleman — I loved this book and I understand its a classic, but it could be somewhat dated or far-afield. — Nate; I think Charlie's work on turnover makes this relevant. —m a k o ๛ ) I think it sounds interesting Kaylea (talk) 01:10, 24 June 2022 (CEST)
 * Mutual Aid by Kropotkin — I also love this book, but it is definitely dated and not that useful unless you are an ecology nerd and/or anarchist —Nate
 * Should you believe Wikipedia? (brand new book) by Amy Bruckman — I think we should prioritize classics but this is one that I think I will have to read this summer so I'd throw it into the mix. —m a k o ๛ 
 * Governing the Commons by Elinor Ostrom — Do this only if/when a large majority of new folks can make it. —m <font color="#600099">a <font color="#2D0399">k <font color="#362365">o <font color="#000000">๛  04:04, 9 June 2022 (CEST) +1 mdb
 * Wealth of Networks or perhaps a few articles by Yochai Benkler — Do this only if/when a large majority of new folks can make it. —<font color="#C40099">m <font color="#600099">a <font color="#2D0399">k <font color="#362365">o <font color="#000000">๛  04:04, 9 June 2022 (CEST) +1 Floor
 * Dividing the Waters by William Blomquist — It's about groundwater governance in Southern California by a student of Ostrom. I'm interested in this because it's about the emergence of new institutions but it's only worth doing if a bunch of others are willing to talk to me about this. —<font color="#C40099">m <font color="#600099">a <font color="#2D0399">k <font color="#362365">o <font color="#000000">๛  I'm interested in this one. —Groceryheist (talk) 21:11, 14 June 2022 (CEST) +1 sohw I'm interested Kaylea (talk) 01:10, 24 June 2022 (CEST)
 * Creating a Constitution by Federica Caraguti — Similar story to Blomquist exist it's about ancient Athens! Federica is beginning to do work in our space though so she seems to think there are connections. —<font color="#C40099">m <font color="#600099">a <font color="#2D0399">k <font color="#362365">o <font color="#000000">๛ 
 * The Sciences of the Artificial by Herbert Simon. — "best known for concepts of bounded rationality and satisficing" Kaylea (talk) 15:48, 8 January 2020 (EST); Moved from 2020 since this does feel something we could benefit from reading. —<font color="#C40099">m <font color="#600099">a <font color="#2D0399">k <font color="#362365">o <font color="#000000">๛  I'm interested Groceryheist (talk) 06:58, 16 June 2022 (CEST) +1 mdb
 * Conversational Firm by Cat Turco — I know Aaron and I have both read this book and loved it and I think more people in communication should be reading this book. —<font color="#C40099">m <font color="#600099">a <font color="#2D0399">k <font color="#362365">o <font color="#000000">๛  I'm interested —Groceryheist (talk) 21:11, 14 June 2022 (CEST) +1 sohw -- I'm interested Kaylea (talk) 01:10, 24 June 2022 (CEST)
 * The Duality of Technology: Rethinking the Concept of Technology in Organizations by Wanda Orlikowski — I've not read the book but I've read a bunch of other other work and think this might be worth it. It might be helpful to read Giddens first she I know she relies heavily on the concept of structuration. —<font color="#C40099">m <font color="#600099">a <font color="#2D0399">k <font color="#362365">o <font color="#000000">๛  +1 sohw +1 mdb I'm interested Kaylea (talk) 01:10, 24 June 2022 (CEST)
 * Social Emergence: Societies as Complex Systems by R. Keith Sawyer -- I started this and it seems like a nice argument about the way that social systems act as complex systems and how researchers can study social phenomena as complex systems. --Jdfoote (talk) 18:43, 14 June 2022 (CEST) I'm interested Kaylea (talk) 01:10, 24 June 2022 (CEST)
 * Exhilation by Ted Chiang — This was our winter holiday gift book! I can also send around a soft copy. —<font color="#C40099">m <font color="#600099">a <font color="#2D0399">k <font color="#362365">o <font color="#000000">๛ 
 * Discriminating Data by Wendy Hui Kyong Chun. Polarization is a goal of machine learning and discrimination is built into how we use and process data. I am planning on reading this anyway this summer. User:Mollydb +1 floor
 * "Ghost Work" by Mary Gray + Siddharth Suri. I'm planning to reread this anyway this summer and would love to be held accountable + chat about it. I know a bunch of folks have also read it already, so might be low-barrier --Floor.
 * TVA and the Grass Roots: A Study of Politics and Organization by Philip Selznick. Folks at ICA were talking about this as a must-read classic. I'm just getting started reading it. Pros so far: seems like an interesting exploration of anti-democratic tendencies creeping into intentionally/initially democratic "grass roots" institutions. Maybe there will be useful parallels to CBPP foundations? Has an ecology vibe. Has an infrastructure vibe. Has a governance vibe. Cons: so far it's a bit dry, or at least not scintillating. Is it really so classic as I was led to believe? Also, feeds my orgcomm habit which may be unhealthy. Kaylea (talk) 01:10, 24 June 2022 (CEST)

Previous Years

 * Sociotechnocanonicon/2018 Schedule
 * Sociotechnocanonicon/2019 Planning
 * Sociotechnocanonicon/2019 Schedule
 * Sociotechnocanonicon/2020 Schedule
 * Sociotechnocanonicon/2021