'Introduction: The Becoming Topological of Culture'

In social and cultural theory, topology has been used to articulate
changes in structures and spaces of power. In this introduction, we argue
that culture itself is becoming topological. In particular, this 'becoming
topological' can be identified in the significance of a new order of
spatio-temporal continuity for forms of economic, political and cultural
life today. This ordering emerges, sometimes without explicit
coordination, in practices of sorting, naming, numbering, comparing,
listing, and calculating. We show that the effect of these practices is
both to introduce new continuities into a discontinuous world by
establishing equivalences or similitudes, and to make and mark
discontinuities through repeated contrasts. In this multiplication of
relations, topological change is established as being constant, normal and
immanent, rather than being an exceptional form, which is externally
produced; that is, forms of economic, political and cultural life are
identified and made legible in terms of their capacities for continous
change. Outlining the contributions to this Special Issue, the
introduction discusses the meaning of topological culture and and provides
an analytic framework through which to understand its implications.