Why are digital infrastructures designed the way we see them today, what interests, values and ideas underlie its development, and is it possible to learn from history to make new digital technology work in a different way? These are some of the questions I ponder on a daily basis.
As a geographer I was trained to study the material foundations of societies, which, in turn, fostered my interest in the intersection of technology, politics, economics, and the social. In Science and Technology Studies (STS) I found theories and methodologies I could utilise to go deeper into this intersection and its production of knowledge and practice.
Studying official documents like Official Norwegian Reports (NOU), White Papers, Government strategies and handbooks, my PhD-project looks at the weaving together of bureaucratic practices and computer technology from the1970s-1990s. I illuminate the becoming of computerised statecraft and computers as an object of governance in Norway. The overall goal is to better understand the historical relations between technological development, bureaucratic structures and politics. My research is based on a practice-oriented document analysis, and I work with theories on futuring, bureaucratic practices and knowledge structures, and infrastructure studies.
Thesis supervisor(s)
Professor Kristin Asdal, TIK Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo
Commentator
Associate Professor Irina Papazu, Technologies in Practice, Center for Climate IT, IT-University of Copenhagen
About Torjus Solheim Eckhoff
Torjus Solheim Eckhoff is a Doctoral Research Fellow at TIK Center for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo. He is part of the the Science and Technology Studies (STS) research group. In his PhD project, he studies Official Norwegian Reports (NOU), White Papers, Government strategies and handbooks, weaving together bureaucratic practices and computer technology from the1970s-1990s. He illuminates the becoming of computerised statecraft and computers as an object of governance in Norway, analysing the historical relations between technological development, bureaucratic structures and politics.
How to participate
The seminar is open for everyone to join.
The manuscript is available upon request. Please send the request to the candidate at t.s.eckhoff@tik.uio.no.