Critical data studies: An introduction

Task: Find a critical source on a topic of your choice (it could be something you have already read on the course, or something you are interested in researching for your essay). Read the introduction and write a short summary or abstract of the work.

For this task I have selected the following paper: Critical data studies: An introduction by Russo & Iliadis (2016). This is chosen as the early foundational paper that outlines the needs for this new critical approach. The paper is part of a collection of introductory articles.

The generation, handling, and use or misuse, of data should concern every citizen in the world. This concern should not only consider surveillance, aggressive hyper-personalised marketing and profiling but also its use to modify or influence behaviour. A new strand of critical theory has developed to analyse and address these concerns, known as Critical Data Studies (CDS).

The paper introduces the scope of CDS as an intent to critique organisations that create or use this “lucrative data capital” which possesses the “ability to influence emotions and culture”. There is much debate on whether the science of Big Data can “overthrow theory” with its fine-grained scientific approach, however the authors argue that this prioritises positivistic approaches over postpositivist critical approaches, the latter of which they stress Big Data must remain open to.

Some key quotes from the first section that outlines the applicability and methodologies of CDS

The nascent field of CDS is a formal attempt at naming the types of research that interrogate all forms of potentially depoliticized data science and to track the ways in which data are generated, curated, and how they permeate and exert power on all manner of forms of life

CDS should study ‘‘data assemblages,’’ that is ‘‘the technological, political, social and economic apparatuses and elements that constitutes and frames the generation, circulation and deployment of data’’

Crucially, as a nascent approach, CDS makes itself open to critique

As Dalton et al. (2016) note, CDS might offend researchers who point out that all forms of research are critical and create a false separation between critical theory and data science. As such, CDS continues to remain an inclusive field that is open to self-critique and dialog, itself politicized in its quest to politicize Big Data.

The paper outlines a key constituent of CDS that is the sociotechnical ‘‘data assemblages’’ that make up Big Data. Need to check if this overlaps with Deleuze/Guittari “assemblages”

The apparatus and elements of a data assemblage may include systems of thought, forms of knowledge, finance, political economy, governmentalities and legalities, materialities and infrastructures, practices, organizations and institutions, subjectivities and communities, places, and the marketplace where data are constituted.

Assemblages should be understood as structures that emerge as constitutive of Big Data, viewed from a variety of social positions at multiple scales (local, national, international) that exert power.

CDS work is typically thought of relative to social media however this introductory paper highlights potential issues with its use in the domain of food and agriculture with

‘‘implications for relationships of power between players in the food system (e.g., between farmers and large corporations)’’

and similarly within the field of geography where CDS originated.

The rest of the article focuses on other core domains of applicability before concluding with some basic principles that govern its use. The article also touches upon the praxis that could lead to some Marxist reading of CDS over time:

Whether through theory, case studies, field work, or using tools, CDS should have the opportunity to practice representing and intervening with reality (Hacking, 1983).