Cited by 1,617Ethics and Social Impacts of AICultural Studies and PostmodernismBig Data Technologies and Applications

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 34 of the 34 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 2 of the 35 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

Data Colonialism: Rethinking Big Data’s Relation to the Contemporary Subject

Open access
Couldry, Nick, Mejias, Ulises A.·2019·Television & New Media

Abstract

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.

Overview

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1177/1527476418796632

Cites

34 of 34 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Probably not a substantial claim. 77
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    Historical colonialism provided the essential preconditions for the emergence of industrial capitalism, including through prior appropriation of vast territories, natural resources and bodies.

    “Just as historical colonialism over the long-run provided the essential preconditions for the emergence of industrial capitalism”
    “Just as industrial capitalism would not have happened without the prior appropriation under historical colonialism of vast territories, their 'natural' resources and bodies”
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Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 17

  1. Arora Payal, 2016, International Journal of Communication, 10
  2. Cohen Julie E., 2016, Participatory Condition
  3. 10.5749/minnesota/9780816680870.001.0001 · DOI
  4. de las Casas Bartolomé. 1951. Historia de Las Indias [History of the Indies]. Vol. 3. Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Economica.
  5. Dussel Enrique, 1985, Philosophy of Liberation
  6. Eubanks Virginia, 2018, Automating Inequality
  7. Greene Daniel Marcus, 2015, Triple C, 13
  8. Hardt Michael, 2017, Assembly
  9. Harvey David, 2004, Socialist Register, 40, 63
  10. Marx Karl, 1976, Capital, Volume I
  11. Mayer-Schonberger Viktor, 2013, Big Data
  12. Postone Moishe, 1998, Reclaiming the Sociological Classics
  13. Schneier Bruce, 2015, Data and Goliath
  14. Scholz Trebor, 2013, Digital Labor: The Internet as Playground and Factory
  15. Smythe Dallas W., 1977, Canadian Journal of Political and Social Theory, 1, 1
  16. Srnicek Nick, 2016, Platform Capitalism
  17. Tronti Mario, 1966, Operai E Capitale

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Metadata

Authors
Couldry, N., & Mejias, U. A.
Affiliations
  • London School of Economics and Political Science (GB)
  • State University of New York at Oswego (US)
Corresponding author
Mejias, Ulises A.
Venue
Television & New Media
Published
2018-09-02
Volume
20
Issue
4
Pages
336-349
ISSN
  • 1527-4764 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-8316
OpenAlex
W2889315866
Cited by
1,617
References
33
Citations by year
2026: 366 · 2025: 260 · 2024: 214 · 2023: 244 · 2022: 217 · 2021: 161 · 2020: 109 · 2019: 45 · 2018: 1
FWCI
157.43
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Television & New Media (publishedVersion, public-domain)
  • London School of Economics and Political Science Research Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
  • London School of Economics and Political Science Theses Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Cultural Studies and Postmodernism
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Big Data Technologies and Applications
Keywords
data colonialism, big data, contemporary subject, colonialism, social data, surveillance, social discrimination, behavioral influence, capitalism, data exploitation

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