Understanding Data, Culture and Society [Hardcover]

This book tackles the implications of big data for democracy, identity, and the global economy, showing how we cannot view our lives as separate from the technologies we have come to rely on. Offering an interdisciplinary overview of a rapidly changing field, Pieter Verdegem explores the ways society and data are interwoven.Pieter Verdegem explores the ways society and data are interwoven, tackling the implications of big data for democracy, identify and the global economy and offering an interdisciplinary overview of a rapidly changing field. How should we understand the relationship between data, culture and society? In this ambitious and comprehensive textbook, Pieter Verdegem provides an accessible entry-point into a set of complex debates on current digital developments. From capitalism to subjectivity, and from labour to justice, this is an invaluable book for any scholar wanting to understand the challenges of data infrastructures and what can be done about them.Pieter Verdegem has written an accessible, enjoyable, and essential book. Anchored in political economy but in dialogue with neighboring disciplines, it makes a strong and provocative case for critically analyzing our everyday relations with data-driven technologies. It also illuminates recent debates on disinformation, mass surveillance, the rise of AI systems, and the gig economy. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding—and challenging—the powerful actors shaping digital technology in our contemporary societies.Pieter Verdegem draws connections between concepts in technology, culture, and society with clarity and verve. Ranging from data journalism to data justice, campaigns to citizenship, this book covers all of the foundational knowledge that students need to think critically about and understand data and culture in today’s world.Look no further if you need a critical and up-to-date survey of the theories, empirical analysl³…