Sebastian Giessmann. The Connectivity of Things. Network Cultures since 1832. The MIT Press. 2024
Chapter Reviewed: Chapter 3: An Archive of Networking
Review by: Nazua Idris, PhD Candidate in Literary Studies, Washington State University
“An Archive of Networking,” the third chapter of Sebastian Giessmann’s The Connectivity of Things: Network Cultures since 1832, focuses on situating Giessmann’s deployment of terminology and ideologies, which he uses to construct his engagement with the material history of networks as a cultural technique.
Giessmann begins this chapter by arguing that the theories for studying networks have been “ahistorical” as they do not engage with the material reality of networks (31). He informs us that those theories “hardly provide a framework in which changes to networks over long spans of time as well as local and cultural variations can be addressed” (31). He says that quantitative network theory presents the relationships of “multiplicity of phenomena” within networks diagrammatically (32). He cites the example of how quantitative network theory used global traffic simulations to calculate the spread of the SARS virus in 2002 and 2003. He argues that although the simulation worked for modeling SARS, it was not as successful when used to manage COVID. Thus, he concludes, “[n]etwork science is clearly not equally suited for every specific situation” (32).
In contrast, as he contends, “a materialist cultural history of nets and networks” provides a comprehensive picture as it considers the quantitative aspects as well as the “concrete significance of networks” (32). Such a cultural, historical approach also offers “reflexive, historical descriptive vocabulary that does justice both to the materiality of what is networked and to the materiality of communication in and with networks” (32).
In the first two subsections, Giessmann articulates the visualizations, materialities, as well as the interstices, complex hierarchies, and density that define networks. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the interstices or in-between spaces of networks, which is not often portrayed by the straightforward visualization of networks. According to Giessmann, one of the vital features of networks is “heterarchy” which he explains is different from hierarchical order as “heterarchy follows the principle of adjacency” and is a system where all the elements within networks can be organized in multiple ways (35).
In the following three subsections, Giessman delves into the ways by which networks are shaped by protocols, mediated by actors, and subject to fluctuation that challenges their cohesion. Protocols are closely connected to the socio-historical and cultural dimensions of networks as they “are always the result of social negotiations” (37). In relation to the role and status of actors and actants (human and non-human entities) within networks, he discusses two terms– “Switching” and “Mediation.” Switching “concerns the style with which political, organizational, and technical apportionment occurs in networks” (37). Mediation is a “principle that goes beyond the concrete switching performed by individual actors and actants” (30). He then draws a connection between mediation and synchronization, saying that “successful synchronization is also a successful mediation, which can represent an asset in sociotechnical networks” (39). He also informs us that due to the fluctuating nature of the networks, successful synchronization requires “strategies and sociotechnical work” and “considerable coordination efforts” (39).
Finally, in the last two subsections, Giessmann explicates how networks transform through a process of grafting, and then he concludes with a discussion on their eventual disruption and breakdown. According to Giessmann, grafting helps explain that “[a] given network usually emerges from existing elements and structures that lead to new relations” (40). He concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding the disruptions and breakdowns as they help us see networks as grounded in material reality. Disruptions and breakdowns happen when “protocol has not been followed, communication procedures went wrong, and temporal regimes could no longer be synchronized” (41). According to Giessmann, disruptions often lead to the formation of a new order, while breakdowns lead to the collapse of the network.
This chapter does a great job of outlining the descriptive vocabulary with examples and draws connections among them. The way the subsections are organized within the essay works really well because each subsection leads to another, and the writer connects the terms discussed in one section to the ones discussed in previous sections by cross-referencing, thus making the discussion more organic and cohesive. As a reader, I also appreciated Giessmann’s style because, in each section, he clearly explains what the previous theorists in network studies have done, where he sees the gaps, and how he addresses those gaps through his analysis.