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Coding Capitalism: Computers and the Remaking of the Postwar US Economy
Author(s): Devin Kennedy (Author)
- Publisher: Columbia University Press
- Publication Date: 7 July 2026
- Language: English
- Print length: 320 pages
- ISBN-10: 0231224036
- ISBN-13: 9780231224031
Book Description
Devin Kennedy offers a new history of the digital economy, showing how the computer emerged from―and transformed―capitalism in the United States. He traces how computer science and technology were made by industry, which molded computation to manage factories, financial markets, and entire firms. Drawing on the archives of businesses, computer researchers, regulators, and financial institutions,
Coding Capitalism retells the story of the postwar economy and the computer, revealing how midcentury business laid the foundations of the digital world. Bridging business and economic history with the history of science and technology, this book uncovers the prehistory of big tech and demonstrates how capitalism has shaped computing since its invention.Editorial Reviews
Review
The histories of capitalism and computing are usually told separately. Kennedy powerfully shows that in the postwar era, neither field can be understood without deep engagement with the other. An indispensable book on a subject that couldn’t be more timely. — Angus Burgin, author of
The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free Markets since the DepressionDrawing from and contributing to a dialogue begun by top sociologists (Beniger, Castells, and MacKenzie), Kennedy’s
Coding Capitalism is vital and new. It is an exhaustively researched, nuanced history of computing, capitalism, and political economy. With insights on everything from the shop floor to financialization, it is insightful and elegant at every turn. — Jeffrey R. Yost, author of Making IT Work: A History of the Computer Services IndustryAbout the Author
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