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The Performativity of Code : Software and Cultures of Circulation

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The Performativity of Code : Software and Cultures of Circulation. / Mackenzie, Adrian.
In: Theory, Culture and Society, Vol. 22, No. 1, 2005, p. 71-92.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

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Mackenzie A. The Performativity of Code : Software and Cultures of Circulation. Theory, Culture and Society. 2005;22(1):71-92. doi: 10.1177/0263276405048436

Author

Mackenzie, Adrian. / The Performativity of Code : Software and Cultures of Circulation. In: Theory, Culture and Society. 2005 ; Vol. 22, No. 1. pp. 71-92.

Bibtex

@article{4e43a965700846039997c15ccdd5487c,
title = "The Performativity of Code : Software and Cultures of Circulation",
abstract = "This article analyses a specific piece of computer code, the Linux operating system kernel, as an example of how technical operationality figures in contemporary culture. The analysis works at two levels. First of all, it attempts to account for the increasing visibility and significance of code or software-related events. Second, it seeks to extend familiar concepts of performativity to include cultural processes in which the creation of meaning is not central, and in which processes of circulation play a primary role. The analysis concentrates on the practices and patterns of circulation of Linux through versions, distributions, clones and reconfigurations. It argues that technical {\textquoteleft}culture-objects{\textquoteright} such as Linux take on a social existence within contemporary technological cultures because of the authorizing contexts in which the reading, writing and execution of code occur. The {\textquoteleft}force{\textquoteright} or performance of certain technical objects, their operationality, can be understood more as the stabilized nexus of diverse social practices, rules and personae than as a formal property of the objects themselves.",
keywords = "circulation • code • Linux • performativity • technology",
author = "Adrian Mackenzie",
year = "2005",
doi = "10.1177/0263276405048436",
language = "English",
volume = "22",
pages = "71--92",
journal = "Theory, Culture and Society",
issn = "1460-3616",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",
number = "1",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Performativity of Code : Software and Cultures of Circulation

AU - Mackenzie, Adrian

PY - 2005

Y1 - 2005

N2 - This article analyses a specific piece of computer code, the Linux operating system kernel, as an example of how technical operationality figures in contemporary culture. The analysis works at two levels. First of all, it attempts to account for the increasing visibility and significance of code or software-related events. Second, it seeks to extend familiar concepts of performativity to include cultural processes in which the creation of meaning is not central, and in which processes of circulation play a primary role. The analysis concentrates on the practices and patterns of circulation of Linux through versions, distributions, clones and reconfigurations. It argues that technical ‘culture-objects’ such as Linux take on a social existence within contemporary technological cultures because of the authorizing contexts in which the reading, writing and execution of code occur. The ‘force’ or performance of certain technical objects, their operationality, can be understood more as the stabilized nexus of diverse social practices, rules and personae than as a formal property of the objects themselves.

AB - This article analyses a specific piece of computer code, the Linux operating system kernel, as an example of how technical operationality figures in contemporary culture. The analysis works at two levels. First of all, it attempts to account for the increasing visibility and significance of code or software-related events. Second, it seeks to extend familiar concepts of performativity to include cultural processes in which the creation of meaning is not central, and in which processes of circulation play a primary role. The analysis concentrates on the practices and patterns of circulation of Linux through versions, distributions, clones and reconfigurations. It argues that technical ‘culture-objects’ such as Linux take on a social existence within contemporary technological cultures because of the authorizing contexts in which the reading, writing and execution of code occur. The ‘force’ or performance of certain technical objects, their operationality, can be understood more as the stabilized nexus of diverse social practices, rules and personae than as a formal property of the objects themselves.

KW - circulation • code • Linux • performativity • technology

U2 - 10.1177/0263276405048436

DO - 10.1177/0263276405048436

M3 - Journal article

VL - 22

SP - 71

EP - 92

JO - Theory, Culture and Society

JF - Theory, Culture and Society

SN - 1460-3616

IS - 1

ER -