What is the value and use of studying the histories of tech companies? In a review of the Clinic’s 2025–2026 Book Club readings, Jai Vipra looks back on the books we read, the notes we took, and what we’ve learned for our own research.
In her report, Jai develops for themes for how and why we should study corporation even if we’re interested in people’s lived experiences. She concludes:
At the Digital Due Process Clinic, we have been paying attention to how people are translated to
numbers, and how data and automation can come to order people’s lives. Studying company histories
taught us how the corporate form – a historical entity, that is, one born of historical rather than
transcendent forces – exacerbates such translation and ordering and directs it along specific paths.
Read the full report (PDF) and, if you’re interested, check out the next book club meeting.