Avec un “s”: Histories of cybernetics and the ASC

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to target the problem of awareness of the history of cybernetics as a field with different actors inside and outside cybernetics. It provides a short overview on research and literature during the last two decades and pleads for a multiplicity of historical views. Design/methodology/approach – Historical research, review of literature. Findings – While it can be found that there was a growing historical interest in cybernetics, this cannot be claimed for the history of the American Society of Cybernetics (ASC) as an organization and a productive network. One reason seems to be the lack of archival sources. The article provides a proposal to reconstruct such an archive for the history of the ASC. Originality/value – Stimulation of historical awareness for and in cybernetics.