September 2020

At the September meeting, we returned to the ever present concept of accumulation in the age of datafication. The pieces we read were: the introduction to Fisher’s (2009) Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative; Sadowski’s (2019) When data is capital: Datafication, accumulation, and extraction; and the introduction & chapter five from D’Ignazio & Klein’s (2020) Data Feminism. The former two of the pieces here examined data through the concept of Capital. Sadowski (2019) gives a particularly accessible overview of how the apply both Marx’s and Bourdieu’s conceptions of capital in relation to data. Fisher (2009) compares 21st century capitalism with Children of Men which (while, admittedly and embarrassingly, I haven’t seen the film) seems to maintain its relevance the longer time goes on. D’Ignazio & Klein (2020) give another accessible analysis of data capital, using an intersectional feminist approach.

Abridged notes for these readings can be found here.

Minutes from the meeting can be found here.