Book Review: Cybernetic Revolutionaries by Eden Medina

Each month, the Austin Software Co-operatives Meetup reviews a topic or book that helps us discover the best ways to structure a software co-operative.

Join us remotely on October 6th for a book review of "Cybernetic Revolutionaries: Technology and Politics in Allende's Chile" by Eden Medina - a historical study of Chile's twin experiments with cybernetics and socialism, and what they tell us about the relationship of technology and politics.

Feel free to read the book before the meetup and share your observations or join the meetup to hear our in-depth review and analysis (no prior experience required).

RSVP to receive your meeting URL before the start of the meetup.

About the book:

"Cybernetic Revolutionaries: Technology and Politics in Allende's Chile" by Eden Medina is widely available from booksellers in print, e-Book and Audio formats.

From Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13008497-cybernetic-revolutionaries

In Cybernetic Revolutionaries, Eden Medina tells the history of two intersecting utopian visions, one political and one technological. The first was Chile's experiment with peaceful socialist change under Salvador Allende; the second was the simultaneous attempt to build a computer system that would manage Chile's economy. Neither vision was fully realized--Allende's government ended with a violent military coup; the system, known as Project Cybersyn, was never completely implemented--but they hold lessons for today about the relationship between technology and politics.

Studying project Cybersyn today helps us understand not only the technological ambitions of a government in the midst of political change but also the limitations of the Chilean revolution. This history further shows how human attempts to combine the political and the technological with the goal of creating a more just society can open new technological, intellectual, and political possibilities. Technologies, Medina writes, are historical texts; when we read them we are reading history.