'From Data Politics to the Contentious Politics of Data' by Davide Beraldo and Stefania Milan
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This article approaches the paradigm shift of datafication from the perspective of civil society. Looking at how individuals and groups engage with datafication, it complements the notion of “data politics” by exploring what we call the “contentious politics of data”. By contentious politics of data we indicate the bottom-up, transformative initiatives interfering with and/or hijacking dominant processes of datafication, contesting existing power relations or re-appropriating data practices and infrastructure for purposes distinct from the intended. Said contentious politics of data is articulated in an array of practices of data activism taking a critical stance towards datafication. In data activism, data as mediators take a central role, both as part of an action repertoire or as objects of struggle in their own right. Leveraging social movement studies and science and technology studies, this theoretical essay argues that data activism can be mapped along two analytical dimensions: “data as stakes” (as issues and/or objects of political struggle in their own right) vs. “data as repertoires” (or modular tools for political struggle), and “individual practice vs. collective action”. Mapping action repertoires and tactics along these axes allows us to chart the potential emergence of a political (contentious) data subject at the intersection of these two dimensions. This furthers our understanding of people’s engagement with data in relation to other forms of activism and existing work in social movement studies. It also helps us interpreting potential trajectories of contemporary social movements, as they increasingly interface with data, devices and platforms.
'Acting on Data(fication)' by Stefania Milan in Stephansen and E. Treré (eds.)
Citizen Media and Practice: Currents, Connections, Challenges (Routledge, 2019) 212
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The ongoing process of datafication represents a fundamental paradigm shift in the way we conceive of citizenship and civic life. People increasingly engage in forms of civic engagement that interrogate such paradigm shift. These innovative instances of collective action acting on data(fication) can be seen as manifestations of data activism, including, e.g., affirmative engagement with data as well as resistance to massive surveillance. Such practices are rooted on data and software, and involve both individuals and groups, moving beyond the expert niche of hackers to embrace broader publics. Dialoguing with the sociology of social movements, media studies, and critical data studies, this essay explores grassroots data politics seen as data practices emerging around data infrastructure. It illustrates tactics, technical identities, and the relation between software and the prefigurative politics of data activists. It analyses how we ought to adapt our understanding of media practice to capture contemporary changes in the nature of technology and information, broadening our understanding of ‘acting on’ datafication by grounding it on software and a novel understanding of information. It concludes by reflecting on the notion of ‘data assemblages’ as a fruitful addition to our interpretation of (media) practice in the age of datafication.
