Data colonialism, social quantification, and Cloud Empire form a single framework

Evidence

Before we go into more detail, let us summarize the relationship between our terms. Data colonialism is the how, the extractivist processes through which life gets newly appropriated by capitalism. The social quantification sector is the who, the consortium of private and public players who engage in data colonialism to achieve their financial and political goals. And the Cloud Empire is the what, the overall organization of resources and imagination that emerges from the practices of data colonialism. The colonizing practices of the Cloud Empire are carried out mainly by the social quantification sector but also by segments of other sectors such as finance, science, civil society, and cultural industries. Like older empires, the Cloud Empire is both practiced and imagined. It is a totality that emerges from data colonialism over time to achieve the imperial reality of corporations’ domination of life through data. — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 163

Categorization

• DEFINE: This is the precise, telescoped definition of the three core terms and their exact relationship — essential scope for a rival-frame reader needing to know how ‘data colonialism’ differs from mere surveillance talk.
• XREF: connects to: Data colonialism is misread through Autonomist Marxism’s labor framework and needs a colonial-era timescale — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 153; Data extraction under the Cloud Empire mirrors historical colonial extraction patterns — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 243; Data colonialism replaces cheap resources with cheap social data as its raw material — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 579 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Data extraction under the Cloud Empire mirrors historical colonial extraction patterns #exemplifies (0.95) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 243
• Data colonialism replaces cheap resources with cheap social data as its raw material #exemplifies (0.90) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 579
• Data colonialism requires transforming society itself, not just extracting value #exemplifies (0.85) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 365
• Data colonialism must be theorized by combining, not choosing among, critical frameworks #corroborates (0.85) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 57
• The 4X framework exposes continuity between historical and data colonialism #exemplifies (0.85) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 274
• Data colonialism expands capitalism by absorbing previously uncommodified life streams #expands (0.85) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 68
• Data colonialism gives states and markets new power to produce social knowledge #expands (0.80) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 89
• Data colonialism is an interlocking six-force system, not just platforms #qualifies (0.75) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 582