Data colonialism is a transitional phase preceding a new extractive order.
Evidence
An important reason for undertaking all of this urgently is that data colonialism is a period of transition. It is not here to stay; its patterns simply announce an emerging order that is yet to come. As discussed in chapter 1, historical colonialism served as a prelude to modern industrial capitalism. The eighteenth-century abolition of colonial slavery solidified the British empire’s transition in the nineteenth century to a new form of imperialism based on liberal values such as free trade. This in turn allowed the empire to reimagine itself at the center of a global network of commerce in manufactured goods—the beginning of what we would recognize today as modern capitalism. In short, historical colonialism was not just about systematic and global extraction and appropriation but about reimagining those things as progress and enforcing a new world order in which colonizers could continue to rule with decreased (yet still prevalent) levels of violence but also with increased legitimacy. They would rule, in fact, by disavowing violence and declaring themselves the defenders of human values. In light of this history, we must reassess recent statements made by commentators following the Cambridge Analytica scandal expressing dissatisfaction with the corrupt data extraction system but assuring the public that it can be reformed and salvaged so that the march of progress may continue. — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 354
Categorization
- DEEPTHINKING: The claim that data colonialism is transitional — not permanent — and that reformist responses to Cambridge Analytica mirror how colonizers reimagined extraction as progress is a dense, paradigm-shifting argument about the temporality and rhetorical self-legitimation of extractive orders.
- QUESTION: If data colonialism is transitional, what successor order does it announce? The authors defer to the next section — worth tracking.
- XREF: Directly parallels the Marxian claim that capitalism may end in barbarism, and challenges the attention/surveillance school’s implicit assumption that surveillance is a stable end-state. — connects to: Data colonialism’s continuity is functional, not literal, with historical colonialism. — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 46; Data colonialism continues the older colonialist economic and social order. — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 63; Data colonialism requires transforming society itself, not just extracting value — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 365 (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- Data colonialism expands capitalism by absorbing previously uncommodified life streams
#qualifies(0.82) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 68 - Data colonialism requires transforming society itself, not just extracting value
#qualifies(0.80) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 365 - Data colonialism extracts human life as data for profit through data relations.
#expands(0.78) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 32