Data extractivism for poverty alleviation and “Tech for Good”
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Data extractivism for poverty alleviation and “Tech for Good”
November 22, 2023 @ 2:00 pm - 4:30 pm
November 22. 2023 | 2:00 PM-4:30 PM (CET) | Hybrid
The collection of data about people’s everyday lives and the extraction of value from this data has become a central feature of day-to-day operations by businesses, governments and non-governmental organisations alike who use algorithmic and data-driven tools. Data extractivism – a term coined in decolonial studies – situates the largescale collection of data we experience today in a long history of capitalism and colonialism. As such, contemporary data practices are seen as the continued extraction of value from human and ecological resources now through the harvesting of data. Rather than mediating inequalities, many of such data extracting schemes might be fueling inequalities across the globe. But what kinds of value are extracted from big data and for whom? And how can we study the practices, infrastructures, and implications of data extractivism through qualitative and/or ethnographic methods? Technological complexity, nondisclosure agreements, and the private ownership of digital infrastructures often prohibit detailed insights into the operation and use of algorithms and big data. Opening new fields of inquiry, the black box of data extractivism, requires reflection on novel methods. But how can we understand the quantification of people’s lives beyond quantitative methods?
The seminar series Data Extractivism and Global Inequality sheds light on the diverse ways in which contemporary data practices and infrastructures are linked to historic and global inequalities and how they can be approached methodologically. Between September and December 2023, practitioners and researchers whose work addresses data extraction in areas such as digital humanitarianism, microcredit programmes, algorithmic credit assessment and welfare policies will join us to discuss the ways in which data extraction mitigates, enforces or produces forms of inequality.
The seminar series is part of the DIIS TECH research initiative on technology and power.
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