Sociotechnocanonicon/2023

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." —mako๛ 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)