Knowledge Making: Historians, Archives and Bureaucracy

Paper has been a crucial material in bureaucracy, enabling order, control, and surveillance. Knowledge Making: Historians, Archives, and Bureaucracy explores how these functions have transformed over time, highlighting the significance of paper's materiality in knowledge making. The book discusses how public and private institutions developed bureaucratic systems that have shaped our access to the past, engaging with themes of privacy and public accountability, record-keeping practices, and the preservation and curation of paper in repositories.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 162 pages
Publication date: 29 January 2024
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Knowledge Making: Historians, Archives, and Bureaucracy delves into the ever-evolving dynamics of how these functions shape historical narratives, enabling private challenges to the public narratives crafted by institutions and governments. The significance of paper and its role in knowledge-making becomes increasingly apparent as the digital realm surpasses paper's dominance, albeit in mirroring its forms.

In this captivating volume, esteemed contributors explore the intricate ways in which public and private institutions, such as asylums, hospitals, and armies, have established bureaucratic systems that have defined our access to the past. Through detailed case studies spanning various national contexts, the authors examine themes of privacy and public accountability, the inception of record-keeping practices, and the ultimate outcomes of paperwork, encompassing preservation and curation in diverse repositories, as well as its place in a rapidly evolving "paperless world."

The chapters in this book originally appeared in a special issue of Rethinking History: The Journal of Theory and Practice, further emphasizing the importance of this scholarly exploration.

Weight: 453g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367520618