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Data Power: Radical Geographies of Control and Resistance
In recent years, popular media has inundated audiences with sensationalized headlines recounting data breaches, new forms of surveillance and other dangers of our digital age. Despite their regularity, such accounts treat each case as unprecedented and unique. This book proposes a radical rethinking of the history, present and future of our relations with the digital, spatial technologies that increasingly mediate our everyday lives.
From smartphones to surveillance cameras, to navigational satellites, these new technologies offer visions of integrated, smooth and efficient societies, even as they directly conflict with the ways users experience them. Recognizing the potential for both control and liberation, the authors argue against both acquiescence to and rejection of these technologies.
Through intentional use of the very systems that monitor them, activists from Charlottesville to Hong Kong are subverting, resisting and repurposing geographic technologies. Using examples as varied as writings on the first telephones to the experiences of a feminist collective for migrant women in Spain, the authors present a revolution of everyday technologies. In the face of the seemingly inevitable circumstances, these technologies allow us to create new spaces of affinity, and a new politics of change.
From smartphones to surveillance cameras, to navigational satellites, these new technologies offer visions of integrated, smooth and efficient societies, even as they directly conflict with the ways users experience them. Recognizing the potential for both control and liberation, the authors argue against both acquiescence to and rejection of these technologies.
Through intentional use of the very systems that monitor them, activists from Charlottesville to Hong Kong are subverting, resisting and repurposing geographic technologies. Using examples as varied as writings on the first telephones to the experiences of a feminist collective for migrant women in Spain, the authors present a revolution of everyday technologies. In the face of the seemingly inevitable circumstances, these technologies allow us to create new spaces of affinity, and a new politics of change.
184 pages, Paperback
Published December 20, 2021
28 people want to read
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March 23, 2024
"Data Power: Radical Geographies of Control and Resistance" by Jim E. Thatcher offers a compelling exploration of the intricate dynamics between data, power, and resistance. Thatcher meticulously examines how contemporary technologies shape spaces and social relations, shedding light on the often overlooked geographies of data control.
Through insightful analysis, the book elucidates the mechanisms through which data is leveraged for control and surveillance, while also offering strategies for resistance and emancipation. In an age where privacy and safety are increasingly threatened by ubiquitous data collection, Thatcher's work serves as a crucial roadmap for understanding, navigating, and challenging the power structures inherent in data-driven societies.
Through insightful analysis, the book elucidates the mechanisms through which data is leveraged for control and surveillance, while also offering strategies for resistance and emancipation. In an age where privacy and safety are increasingly threatened by ubiquitous data collection, Thatcher's work serves as a crucial roadmap for understanding, navigating, and challenging the power structures inherent in data-driven societies.
Displaying 1 of 1 review