Data colonialism may eliminate the tactical spaces resistance relied on.

Evidence

We hold here onto the term tactical while acknowledging that the underlying distinction from French theorist Michel de Certeau (Everyday Life) between strategy and tactics may have outlived its usefulness. De Certeau argued that within every large-scale structure of strategic power (government, markets, rituals, the order of space itself) there are places for tactics: empty zones, such as the corner of a market square, to which the eye or hand of power doesn’t penetrate. In tactical places, the possibility subsists of “free” activity with real benefits for the actors, benefits that are not envisaged or controlled by strategic power. De Certeau’s notion of tactics, however, assumed some limits to how far power can penetrate into space—a reasonable assumption about every form of generalized power until now. But what if the new order being built is an order beyond tactics, an order that appropriates almost all resources from which tactics might be fashioned except the short-term local gaming of the system that, by its own admission, “plays the game” and so cannot challenge it? — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 1203

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clearly explains de Certeau’s strategy/tactics distinction and then suggests its expiry under data colonialism — important definitional groundwork.
• XREF: connects to: Data colonialism drains the social space from which truth-to-power critique could arise. — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 453

Broader Connections

• Data colonialism drains the social space from which truth-to-power critique could arise. #expands (0.80) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 453