In Dialogue with The Age of Surveillance Capitalism : A reconstruction and critique of the theory and its apocalyptic-dystopian narrative
Dufva, Rosa Aaron (2022)
Dufva, Rosa Aaron
2022
Yhteiskuntatutkimuksen maisteriohjelma - Master's Programme in Social Sciences
Yhteiskuntatieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Social Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2022-09-26
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202207276117
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202207276117
Tiivistelmä
Social scientific research has theorized utopia and utopianism as methods of imagining and theorizing alternative, desired futures. While various definitions of utopia and utopianism exist, most scholarship agrees that there is an inherent ideology to them. In both social theory and literary fiction, utopia and dystopia are often preceded by an apocalyptic event. Humanities scholars have researched the relationship between fictional dystopian and apocalyptic narratives and anxieties about societal change, such as rapid technological development, changing social relations of power, community, and individuality. Utopia and dystopia, whether social theory or fictional narratives, can be thought of as social diagnoses with a future-oriented temporality. This thesis partakes in these theoretical discussions by reconstructing The Age of Surveillance Capitalism (2019) by Shoshana Zuboff. The thesis engages in a critical dialogue with the surveillance capitalism theory/narrative from the perspective of its dystopian and utopian reality-making.
Second Rational reconstruction is used to analyze explicit and implicit theoretical arguments in the surveillance capitalism theory. The reconstruction is divided into two broad themes: narrativity, and personhood and society. Narrative analysis is employed to examine the type of knowledge and reality producing through narrative choices made by the author. The term apocalyptic-dystopian narrative guides this analysis: the horror of the imagined end of the world and the following bad society reveals what is most feared and desired by the author. Additionally, the Janus-face of dystopia and utopia is considered, and the terms utopia and utopianism assist the analysis.
This thesis suggests that the theory presented in The Age of Surveillance Capitalism is a liberal social diagnosis with a dominating apocalyptic-dystopian narrative. Yet, despite its explicit antiutopianism, the theory also includes an implicit utopian vision. Personhood and society are interpreted by the author through a liberal lens, and consequently the theory emphasizes autonomy and individuality, society as public life organized by the principle of efficiency, and democratic capitalism. The theory, while critical of the surveillance capitalism phenomenon, is not a general critique of capitalism. Instead, the aim of the author is to open the door to the good society by saving capitalism, society, and the individual from the dystopian surveillance capitalism. These elements of the theory highlight its overarching paranoia and dualistic division of good and evil as knowledge practices.
This thesis joins a newly expanding group of scholarship on the surveillance capitalism theory. The reconstruction conducted in this thesis offers a long-form theoretical analysis and critique of the theory and its narrative and connects them to conversations about dystopian and utopian knowledge production.
Second Rational reconstruction is used to analyze explicit and implicit theoretical arguments in the surveillance capitalism theory. The reconstruction is divided into two broad themes: narrativity, and personhood and society. Narrative analysis is employed to examine the type of knowledge and reality producing through narrative choices made by the author. The term apocalyptic-dystopian narrative guides this analysis: the horror of the imagined end of the world and the following bad society reveals what is most feared and desired by the author. Additionally, the Janus-face of dystopia and utopia is considered, and the terms utopia and utopianism assist the analysis.
This thesis suggests that the theory presented in The Age of Surveillance Capitalism is a liberal social diagnosis with a dominating apocalyptic-dystopian narrative. Yet, despite its explicit antiutopianism, the theory also includes an implicit utopian vision. Personhood and society are interpreted by the author through a liberal lens, and consequently the theory emphasizes autonomy and individuality, society as public life organized by the principle of efficiency, and democratic capitalism. The theory, while critical of the surveillance capitalism phenomenon, is not a general critique of capitalism. Instead, the aim of the author is to open the door to the good society by saving capitalism, society, and the individual from the dystopian surveillance capitalism. These elements of the theory highlight its overarching paranoia and dualistic division of good and evil as knowledge practices.
This thesis joins a newly expanding group of scholarship on the surveillance capitalism theory. The reconstruction conducted in this thesis offers a long-form theoretical analysis and critique of the theory and its narrative and connects them to conversations about dystopian and utopian knowledge production.