Costs of Connection
by Nick Couldry
Nick Couldry exposes 'data colonialism'—how tech giants extract personal data to fuel a new phase of capitalist exploitation
"Apps, platforms, and smart objects capture and translate our lives into data, then extract information that is fed into capitalist enterprises".
Editorial Summary
The Costs of Connection uncovers the process of 'data colonialism' and its designs for controlling our lives—our ways of knowing, our means of production, and our political participation. Nick Couldry, Professor of Media, Communications and Social Theory at the London School of Economics, and co-author Ulises A. Mejias present a radical critique connecting historical colonialism to contemporary data extraction. The book argues that the historic appropriation of land, bodies, and natural resources is mirrored today in this new era of pervasive datafication. Apps, platforms, and smart objects capture and translate our lives into data, then extract information that is fed into capitalist enterprises and sold back to us. Drawing on Marx, Foucault, and decolonial theory, the authors connect classic social theory with contemporary analyses of data justice.
Perspective
"Anyone concerned about tech surveillance should read this before generative AI and large language models make data extraction even more pervasive. Policymakers crafting AI regulation need Couldry's framework to understand how ChatGPT and Claude represent not just technological advancement but a new form of colonial exploitation of human experience."
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