Introduction

The introduction chapter positions algorithmic information ordering as a central practice and technology in contemporary digital infrastructures, a set of techniques that serve as ‘levers on reality’ (Goody). While algorithms used in concrete systems may often be hard to scrutinize, they draw on widely available software modules and well-documented principles that make them amendable to humanistic analysis. The chapter introduces Gilbert Simondon’s mechanology and provides an overview of the structure and argument of the book.