Edward Higgs – författare

We are now entering a world of electronic communications where an increasing amount of contemporary information is created and retained only in electronic form. How will such unstable flows of information be preserved for future historians? Will the future have a past? Will the history of our contemporary world be lost to our descendants? History and Electronic Artefacts is the first publication to examine the implications of this revolution for historical research. Historians are used to handling paper and parchment record in archives. These are actual pieces of correspondence which passed between historical actors. They are also relatively stable artefacts which can be preserved easily. Two factors introduced by the electronic revolution threaten the existence of paper archives: the dissociation between information content and the media by which it is transmitted ruptures the solidity of the archival object. The ability to store electronic information anywhere and access it remotely via networks could make the central paper archive redundant.Experts from the fields of information management and technology, data archiving, library science, as well as historians, consider the issues raised in depth. The authors also place a unique emphasis on European developments.

We are now entering a world of electronic communications where an increasing amount of contemporary information is created and retained only in electronic form. How will such unstable flows of information be preserved for future historians? Will the future have a past? Will the history of our contemporary world be lost to our descendants? This book examines the implications of this revolution for historical research. Historians are used to handling paper and parchment records in archives. These are actual pieces of correspondence which passed between historical actors. They are also relatively stable artefacts which can be preserved easily. Two factors introduced by the electronic revolution threaten the existence of paper archives: the dissociation between information content and the media by which it is transmitted ruptures the solidity of the archival object. The ability to store electronic information anywhere and access it remotely via networks could make the central paper archive redundant. Experts from the fields of information management and technology, data archiving, library science, as well as historians, consider the issues raised in depth.The authors also place emphasis on European developments.

Is the official collection of information on individuals inevitably leading to the creation of a 'Big Brother State'? In this innovative interdisciplinary study, Edward Higgs takes issue with writers such as Michel Foucault and Anthony Giddens who argue that state information gathering can be seen in terms of an expansion towards modernity, and as social control. Using ground-breaking historical research, Higgs reveals that, since 1500, the English state has always been an Information State although the nature of that state has changed markedly over the last 500 years. In its modern form, the Information State is as much about winning consent via the provision of benefits as repression in the interests of elites.The Information State in England- Draws upon a wide range of sociological theory and historical research, as well as evidence gathered from archival sources- Challenges many assumptions about state formation and the role of information- Views the development of the state in terms of the changing balance between decentralized and centralized forms of governance- Provides a critique of sociological and postmodernist concepts of modernity

Is the official collection of information on individuals inevitably leading to the creation of a 'Big Brother State'? In this innovative interdisciplinary study, Edward Higgs takes issue with writers such as Michel Foucault and Anthony Giddens who argue that state information gathering can be seen in terms of an expansion towards modernity, and as social control. Using ground-breaking historical research, Higgs reveals that, since 1500, the English state has always been an Information State although the nature of that state has changed markedly over the last 500 years. In its modern form, the Information State is as much about winning consent via the provision of benefits as repression in the interests of elites.The Information State in England- Draws upon a wide range of sociological theory and historical research, as well as evidence gathered from archival sources- Challenges many assumptions about state formation and the role of information- Views the development of the state in terms of the changing balance between decentralized and centralized forms of governance- Provides a critique of sociological and postmodernist concepts of modernity

Reading Faces is the first book to discuss the historical contexts and theoretical underpinnings of the artificial intelligence (AI) systems that identify individuals, or purport to ascribe emotions and characteristics to them based on their facial features.It examines the direct impact of past research on the development of AI systems; the way in which the past provides contexts which have predisposed people to accept outputs of AI systems as ‘common sense’; how the role of politics and the changing nature of the state have led to the introduction of AI systems and their precursors; how previous technologies led to the acceptance of the introduction of superficially similar AIs; and how the outputs – and biases, such as purported associations between race and criminality – of facial biometrics systems have been determined by the historical nature of the underlying datasets they analyze. Reading Faces approaches these issues within the sweep of Western History – how it has shaped conceptual categories about the application and ethics of AI, and tried to foist those ideas and values on the Global South.This book is essential reading for postgraduates, scholars, as well as non-specialist readers, such as booksellers and librarians, interested in modern AI technology.

Reading Faces is the first book to discuss the historical contexts and theoretical underpinnings of the artificial intelligence (AI) systems that identify individuals, or purport to ascribe emotions and characteristics to them based on their facial features.It examines the direct impact of past research on the development of AI systems; the way in which the past provides contexts which have predisposed people to accept outputs of AI systems as ‘common sense’; how the role of politics and the changing nature of the state have led to the introduction of AI systems and their precursors; how previous technologies led to the acceptance of the introduction of superficially similar AIs; and how the outputs – and biases, such as purported associations between race and criminality – of facial biometrics systems have been determined by the historical nature of the underlying datasets they analyze. Reading Faces approaches these issues within the sweep of Western History – how it has shaped conceptual categories about the application and ethics of AI, and tried to foist those ideas and values on the Global South.This book is essential reading for postgraduates, scholars, as well as non-specialist readers, such as booksellers and librarians, interested in modern AI technology.

First published in 1986. At any one time in late nineteenth-century England and Wales over one million men and women were described as domestic servants in the occupational category after agricultural work. This title explores several aspects of domestic service in the area of Rochdale, and the servant population is examined to discover who entered the service, at what age, and from what background they came. This title will be of interest to students of history.

First published in 1986. At any one time in late nineteenth-century England and Wales over one million men and women were described as domestic servants in the occupational category after agricultural work. This title explores several aspects of domestic service in the area of Rochdale, and the servant population is examined to discover who entered the service, at what age, and from what background they came. This title will be of interest to students of history.

Personal identification is very much a live political issue in Britain and this book looks at why this is the case, and why, paradoxically, the theft of identity has become ever more common as the means of identification have multiplied. Identifying the English looks not only at how criminals have been identified - branding, fingerprinting, DNA - but also at the identification of the individual with seals and signatures, of the citizen by means of passports and ID cards, and of the corpse. Beginning his history in the medieval period, Edward Higgs reveals how it was not the Industrial Revolution that brought the most radical changes in identification techniques, as many have assumed, but rather the changing nature of the State and commerce, and their relationship with citizens and customers. In the twentieth century the very different historical techniques have converged on the holding of information on databases, and increasingly on biometrics, and the multiplication of these external databases outside the control of individuals has continued to undermine personal identity security.