The inevitability of datafication is itself a myth of data colonialism

Evidence

It is this larger narrative of transforming life through data that we are told is impossible to halt, because it is driven by a “technological momentum” that is “inevitable.” The notion that datafication is inevitable is, as we noted in chapter 1, a myth of data colonialism. — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 574

Categorization

• DEFINE: Naming inevitability-talk as a constructed myth of data colonialism gives the ‘data colonialism’ definitional construct sharp rhetorical teeth.
• SEED: Angles for an essay: ‘Datafication is inevitable’ as ideology — how inevitability claims function as legitimating devices for extractive regimes.
• XREF: connects to: Data colonialism requires transforming society itself, not just extracting value — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 365; The 4X framework exposes continuity between historical and data colonialism — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 274; The unifying ‘dataism’ myth claims current data infrastructure is inevitable and transcendent. — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 98 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• The 4X framework exposes continuity between historical and data colonialism #expands (0.78) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 274
• Data colonialism requires transforming society itself, not just extracting value #expands (0.75) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 365