This thesis is an attempt to analyse computer code as a social infrastructure. As the tendency towards digitisation and the transition to basic social interactions being carried out via computer or telephone is increasing, it is necessary to think critically about the basic building block of this infrastructure – computer code. Since humanist analyses of computer code are mainly divided into two streams (one warning against constant surveillance, the other exaggerating computational capabilities), this thesis focuses on the analysis of computer code primarily as a technology or tool and interface for mediating social action. Computer code is an extremely complex system of interrelated instructions that is only properly executed when all its functions and subroutines work in concert. This is also its greatest strength, as it allows us to externalise complex thought processes that computer code elevates far beyond human capabilities. At the same time, it is precisely this complexity and tight interplay that opens up the field of different ways in which code can be manipulated. Whether it is simple syntax errors, bugs in the structure, human error, opaque writing or even social engineering, there are many ways of subverting the infrastructure that drives much of our social life. The thesis is that computer code as an infrastructure is much more fragile and unreliable than we might imagine. This does not mean that the technology behind the code is flawed or without potential, but rather that its implementation has often been ill-considered or poorly executed. Given how many of our social interactions and basic services (such as access to a doctor, an administrative unit or education) rely on the use of software or applications, our social infrastructure is constantly exposed to failure. In addition, computer code, as a basic building block of social infrastructure, is an incomprehensible language to most service users, which alienates them from it. The fragility of the code and the disengagement of users from its operation can also result in the fragility of the delivery of key social services.
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