Calling surveillance capitalism totalitarianism obscures rather than clarifies its threat.

Evidence

When scholars, civil society leaders, journalists, public figures, and, indeed, most of us speak out courageously against this new power, invariably we look to Orwell’s Big Brother and more generally the specter of totalitarianism as the lens through which to interpret today’s threats. Google, Facebook, and the larger field of commercial surveillance are frequently depicted as “digital totalitarianism.” I admire those who have stood against the incursions of commercial surveillance, but I also suggest that the equation of instrumentarian power with totalitarianism impedes our understanding as well as our ability to resist, neutralize, and ultimately vanquish its potency. There is no historical precedent for instrumentarianism, but there is vivid precedent for this kind of encounter with an unprecedented new species of power. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1119

Categorization

• XREF: Challenges the dominant ‘digital totalitarianism’ framing of major platform critics, pointing to historical encounters with genuinely unprecedented power rather than Orwellian precedent. — connects to: Surveillance capitalism is a species of power comparable in significance to totalitarianism — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1699; Surveillance capitalism’s power is actually the opposite of Orwell’s Big Brother — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1176; Surveillance capitalism aims to author people rather than destroy them — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1062 (+1 more)
• QUESTION: What is the ‘vivid precedent for this kind of encounter with an unprecedented new species of power’ that Zuboff will invoke? Worth tracing where this argument goes.
• SEED: The claim that calling platforms ‘digital totalitarianism’ actively impedes resistance could anchor an essay on the limits of Orwellian metaphors in the surveillance era.

Broader Connections

• Surveillance capitalism is a species of power comparable in significance to totalitarianism #responds-to (0.92) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1699
• Surveillance capitalism’s power is actually the opposite of Orwell’s Big Brother #corroborates (0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1176
• Surveillance capitalism aims to author people rather than destroy them #complicates (0.75) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1062