Data Colonialism

Rethinking Big Data's Relation to the Contemporary Subject

Bibliographic Data

ID5778093
AuthorsN Couldry (0000-0001-8233-3287, London School of Economics and Political Science), Ulises A Mejias (0000-0003-3774-0195, State University of New York at Oswego, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume20
Issue4
Pages336-349
Publication date2018-09-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTelevision & New Media (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1527-4764 • E-ISSN: 1552-8316
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1527476418796632
OpenAlexW2889315866
LanguageEN
Citations received606
References cited29

We are often told that data are the new oil. But unlike oil, data are not a substance found in nature. It must be appropriated. The capture and processing of social data unfolds through a process we call data relations, which ensures the "natural" conversion of daily life into a data stream. The result is nothing less than a new social order, based on continuous tracking, and offering unprecedented new opportunities for social discrimination and behavioral influence. We propose that this process is best understood through the history of colonialism. Thus, data relations enact a new form of data colonialism, normalizing the exploitation of human beings through data, just as historic colonialism appropriated territory and resources and ruled subjects for profit. Data colonialism paves the way for a new stage of capitalism whose outlines we only glimpse: the capitalization of life without limit

Capitalization · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Ethics and Social Impacts of AI

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