Political Economy of the Digital Society

The combined deployment of digital systems, massive data collection and computer code have reshaped the basic rules of social life: how people communicate, work, exchange and associate; how they relate to one another, themselves, and the world around them; how institutions, public and private, frame and pursue their social mission and economic purpose; and how they sort, slot, and know populations and individuals. This course will analyze the specificity and power of digital technology as a driver of capital accumulation, a technique of government, an engine of social difference, and a cultural force with its own politics and moral lexicon.