The Politics of Friction
How institutions turn ordinary life into administrative work.
John Kinson 1 min read
Modern life has become very good at removing friction. You can summon a car, transfer money, order dinner or book a flight in minutes. Yet the moment you interact with many of the institutions that govern, employ, insure, bill or otherwise organise your life, the friction returns.
A form asks for information another department already has. A website tells you to call a number, which tells you to use the website. A perfectly ordinary situation falls outside the available drop-down options. Responsibility passes neatly from one organisation to another until, eventually, the problem becomes yours.
We usually think about institutions in terms of what they provide: services, products, rights, benefits, support. But there is another dimension that gets far less attention: how difficult they make ordinary life.
Not just what an institution provides, but how much of your time and attention it expects you to spend obtaining it.
Call it the politics of friction.