Human life as organized through data is the new direct input of capitalism
Evidence
As discussed in the previous chapter, data colonialism is what happens when human life becomes an input for capitalism. That human life should acquire this particular status under a capitalist system is not strange or new. After all, capitalism seeks to commodify everything, so everything potentially becomes its input. But how “everything” is defined at a specific historical moment is what requires attention. What is unique about our historical moment, we argue, is that human life as organized through data relations becomes the direct input of capitalism, a condition that we describe as specifically and newly colonial. — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 160
Categorization
- DEFINE: Foundational definition of ‘data colonialism’ as the capitalist capture of human life ordered through data relations.
- QUESTION: The claim that data-based capture is ‘newly colonial’ needs precise content — how distinct is this from long-run commodification of labor power that capitalism has always organized?
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 160
- XREF: connects to: Data extraction extends capitalism’s exploitation to all human life, echoing colonial raw-material logic — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 42; Platforms reconfigure human life to continuously produce extractable data streams. — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 45; Capitalism is poised to consume its last remaining outside via data — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 68 (+14 more)
Broader Connections
- Data colonialism annexes human life itself to capital
#corroborates(0.93) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 28 - Data colonialism expands capitalism by absorbing previously uncommodified life streams
#corroborates(0.92) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 68 - Data colonialism extracts human life as data for profit through data relations.
#corroborates(0.90) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 32 - Data exploitation resembles capitalism’s free ride on uncommodified life, not factory labor
#corroborates(0.85) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 326