[Book Sip] Minumsa Humanities Magazine 'Hanpyeon' Issue 11 Theme is 'Platform'

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The theme of Minumsa's humanities magazine 'Hanpyeon' Issue 11 is 'Platform.' It explores the feeling of 'exchanging something' through platforms, the world where content is exchanged. The issue includes ten essays covering urban planning, science and technology studies, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, and criticism. The first essay begins with sketches of logistics infrastructure and delivery workers. Urban planning researcher Kim Liwon conveys the life of city dwellers where subways become shopping spaces and residents and delivery workers collide at apartment entrances. Transportation and philosophy researcher Jeon Hyunwoo discusses the effects of a dense railway network, once a tool of exploitation but now a new possibility for mobility in the era of climate crisis. Science historian Lee Dugab examines recent generative AI platforms and related intellectual property lawsuits.

Before the pandemic, my movements crossing east, west, south, and north were increasingly restricted as the number of confirmed cases rose. As social functions and personal convenience were maintained through the movement of goods rather than people, individuals became observers rather than agents of movement. This is precisely why I came to witness the delivery city. - Kim Liwon, "A Week in the Delivery City"

Platform operators like Kakao, Coupang, and Baedal Minjok dominate the attention of Koreans today with the noose of monopoly. Fingers busily moving to check which platform is cheaper. I too stand alongside fellow citizens on the platform waiting for the train, moving my fingers like this. - Jeon Hyunwoo, "Express Train to Monopoly"

Many ask whether generative AI can become an innovative technology that replaces human creative work. In fact, a more important question might be whether we truly want to enjoy creations generated by AI that operates like an empty ghost machine, and whether we want to live in a world where platform companies that create such technology reap huge profits. - Lee Dugab, "Claiming the Creator's Fair Share"

Were we perhaps too quick to declare that our claim was the 'candlelight' without engaging in the process of speaking to and persuading the citizens gathered in the square, captivated by their spectacle? Were we afraid of the energy consumption involved in conflict and debate, thus avoiding honest discussions and debates with activists and members of the organization? - Kim Yechan, "In Search of the Lost Citizen"

Although solidarity on online platforms that gather fragmented voices under conditions where safety is not guaranteed and a public sphere for social criticism cannot be established may seem loose, it is powerful. This is precisely why the Iranian government strictly blocks the internet whenever protests occur. - Gu Giyeon, "Solidarity through Instagram Stories"

Humanities Magazine Hanpyeon 11: Platform | Essays by Kim Liwon and 9 others | Minumsa | 212 pages | 10,000 KRW

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