Debora Gerstenberger (Freie Universität Berlin)
Wednesday 1 December 2021
18.45 – 20.15 Hrs
This project moves at the interface between the history of technology (more precisely: digital history / history of computing) and political history. Gerstenberger has studied the computerization of security systems (military, secret services, police) in Latin America, with a focus on Brazil and Argentina. The focus is always on the moment when computer technology is introduced as a novelty (so these are case studies that examine a few years each, not studies that a single institution traces over many years). In the lecture itself Berstenberger will present two main parts (of three planned): the debates about the introduction of computer technology into the Argentine military (early 1960s) and the introduction of computer technology into the Brazilian secret service (late 1970s).