Governance Archaeology
Definition
Governance Archaeology is a research field that considers a wide range of historical governance practices to create more moral political economies. It focuses on governance practices outside the Western canon, and seeks to learn from pre-digital mechanisms across diverse societies and cultural practices. For example, the lottery system for public offices in Ancient Athens could help us regulate algorithms today.
Excavations: Governance Archaeology for the Future of the Internet
In comparison to present and historical democratic institutions offline, online communities have an impoverished set of tools available for democratic governance[1]. Excavations: Governance Archaeology for the Future of the Internet is interested in what might be learned from pre-digital mechanisms across diverse societies and cultural practice. Ancient Athens’ system of lotteries for public offices, for instance, could help us better regulate algorithms today[2]. There is a long record of practice and research on governance in the social sciences that bear valuable insights. For this exploration, we propose to conduct media archaeology on a wide range of historical, present-day, and fictional governance practices and to radically expand the repertoire available for governance in online and offline communities alike.[3]
References
- ↑ Schneider, Nathan. Admins, Mods, and Benevolent Dictators for Life: The Implicit Feudalism of Online Communities. MediArXiv Preprints. 2021 Jan. https://osf.io/preprints/mediarxiv/sf432
- ↑ Carugati, Federica. A Council of Citizens Should Regulate Algorithms. Wired. 2020 Jun. Accessed 28 Feb 2024. https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-a-council-of-citizens-should-regulate-algorithms/
- ↑ Excavations: Governance Archaeology for the Future of the Internet. Media Economies Design Lab. COLLEGE OF MEDIA, COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION. CU Boulder. Accessed 28 Feb 2024. https://www.colorado.edu/lab/medlab/2021/05/18/excavations-governance-archaeology-future-internet
Related Reading
The Taxonomy
- A research project in progress to assemble a database of governance archaeology.
- https://excavations.digital/taxonomy/
Excavations: Governance Archaeology for the Future of the Internet
- A collective research project and online exhibition that aims to contribute to digital policy conversations.
- https://re-publica.com/de/session/excavations-governance-archaeology-future-internet#:~:text=Excavations:%20Governance%20Archaeology%20for%20the%20Future%20of%20the%20Internet%20is,cohort%20of%2010%20international%20art
Landscapes of Governance
- A three-year project combines archaeology, place-names, and written sources to study the early medieval period.
- https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/research/landscapes-governance#:~:text=A%20three%2Dyear%20interdisciplinary%20research,of%20the%20classical%20Roman%20world.
Assembly Sites of Wales
- The Assembly Sites of Wales pilot project was established following discussions at the 2014 meeting of EMWARG (Early Medieval Wales Archaeology Research Group) and the identification of assembly sites at the Pillar of Eliseg (Denbighshire) and Bayvil (Pembrokeshire).
- https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/research/landscapes-governance/assembly-sites-wales
Governance Archaeology: Research as Ancestry
- Essay outlining a strategy for creating a global commons of collective governance practices.
- https://www.amacad.org/publication/governance-archaeology-research-ancestry
