Files

By Cornelia Vismann, Geoffrey Winthrop-Young (translator),

Book cover of Files: Law and Media Technology

Book description

Quod non est in actis, non est in mundo. (What is not on file is not in the world.) Once files are reduced to the status of stylized icons on computer screens, the reign of paper files appears to be over. With the epoch of files coming to an end,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Files as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Colin Koopman

Author

This book dazzles me every time I read it. It will change the way you think about files and how such humble little documents can help rule our lives. Vismann’s Files is not the easiest going, but it is filled with enough history and detail that one can just join for the ride and follow along. The late Cornelia Vismann died too young but she still managed to leave us with this truly transformative account of the relation between law and the data systems upon which all law always relies. Through a careful history that stretches from parchment scrolls to…

From Colin's list on data ethics (and data politics).