Unsettled Debts: 1968 and the Problem of Historical Memory| The Sociotechnical Imaginaries of 1968

Authors

  • Andrea Alarcon University of Southern California
  • Soledad Altrudi University of Southern California
  • Frances Corry University of Southern California
  • MC Forelle Cornell Tech

Keywords:

science and technology studies, 1968, sociotechnical imaginaries, communication history

Abstract

The following article is adapted from a multimedia research performance held at the conference The Fire This Time: Afterlives of 1968. In it, we delve into four case studies that exemplify a moment in the sociotechnical imaginaries of 1968: Earthrise, the iconic full photograph of the Earth; the tech demo that predicted the personal computer; a policy debate over the balance of power in the air quality control crisis; and the taken-for-granted emergency line, 911. Our analysis reveals how these technological moments, each of which represented a vision of a better world, were inextricable from the social realities and power dynamics present in their making. Furthermore, this work surfaces the nuances and unique perspectives that the sociotechnical imaginary as a theoretical framework can provide.

Author Biographies

Andrea Alarcon, University of Southern California

Andrea Alarcon, is a PhD candidate at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism studying popular discourses of technology, often relating to labor and development.

Soledad Altrudi, University of Southern California

Soledad Altrudi is a PhD candidate at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, where she works at the intersection of STS and media studies, and explores the various effects that technology has on our environment as well as on human/non‐human‐other entanglements

Frances Corry, University of Southern California

Frances Corry is a PhD candidate in communication at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. Her research is concerned with technological pasts, addressing the social histories of media technologies as well as topics related to digital technology, memory, and archiving.

MC Forelle, Cornell Tech

MC Forelle is a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell Tech

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Published

2022-10-04

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Section

Special Sections