Program-oriented social sciences: Review and prospects

How should the social sciences approach the study of computer programs? This article presents research into these obscure, composite objects, and, as a continuation of STS (science, technology, and society) approaches, looks in detail at the contribution of software studies. It then explores the three main issues such work raises: forms of algorithmic regulation, programmer strategies, and user tactics. Finally, it considers code—lines of writing whose status as a language is nonetheless disputed—and proposes three ways of approaching it: through its content, its functioning, and its discourses. The authors conclude by showing both the usefulness of this research for understanding our world, populated as it is with programs, and the challenges that lie ahead.