{"product_id":"stack-book-benjamin-h-bratton-9780262029575","title":"The Stack","description":"\u003cb\u003eA comprehensive political and design theory of planetary-scale computation proposing that The Stack--an accidental megastructure--is both a technological apparatus and a model for a new geopolitical architecture.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhat has planetary-scale computation done to our geopolitical realities? It takes different forms at different scales--from energy and mineral sourcing and subterranean cloud infrastructure to urban software and massive universal addressing systems; from interfaces drawn by the augmentation of the hand and eye to users identified by self--quantification and the arrival of legions of sensors, algorithms, and robots. Together, how do these distort and deform modern political geographies and produce new territories in their own image?\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Stack\u003c\/i\u003e, Benjamin Bratton proposes that these different genres of computation--smart grids, cloud platforms, mobile apps, smart cities, the Internet of Things, automation--can be seen not as so many species evolving on their own, but as forming a coherent whole: an accidental megastructure called The Stack that is both a computational apparatus and a new governing architecture. We are inside The Stack and it is inside of us. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn an account that is both theoretical and technical, drawing on political philosophy, architectural theory, and software studies, Bratton explores six layers of The Stack: \u003ci\u003eEarth\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCloud\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCity\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAddress\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eInterface\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eUser\u003c\/i\u003e. Each is mapped on its own terms and understood as a component within the larger whole built from hard and soft systems intermingling--not only computational forms but also social, human, and physical forces. This model, informed by the logic of the multilayered structure of protocol \"stacks,\" in which network technologies operate within a modular and vertical order, offers a comprehensive image of our emerging infrastructure and a platform for its ongoing reinvention. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Stack\u003c\/i\u003e is an interdisciplinary design brief for a new geopolitics that works with and for planetary-scale computation. Interweaving the continental, urban, and perceptual scales, it shows how we can better build, dwell within, communicate with, and govern our worlds.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ethestack.org\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49666977267985,"sku":"GOR008756709","price":38.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49731711369489,"sku":"NGR9780262029575","price":52.59,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50556090024209,"sku":"GOR008219509","price":33.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51504759865617,"sku":"CIN026202957XG","price":32.9,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/026202957X.jpg?v=1751290689","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/stack-book-benjamin-h-bratton-9780262029575","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}