Re:Big Tech Sees Like a State (2020)
by nostrademons on Monday September 02, 2024 @06:14PM
(#41429207)
Isn't that basically what the article is saying?
The article is using the vocabulary of sociology, where "legibility" in reference to the state is a well-known concept. The article specifically references Seeing like a state and James Scott's other writings, but he's not the only one to think in terms of such concepts. Foucault's idea of the Panopticon is very similar - it's about the state maintaining control through the citizenry always knowing that they're watched - while Habermas's idea of a "lifeworld" ("metis" in this article) which is "colonized by expert systems" is the same phenomena.
The article is using the vocabulary of sociology, where "legibility" in reference to the state is a well-known concept. The article specifically references Seeing like a state and James Scott's other writings, but he's not the only one to think in terms of such concepts. Foucault's idea of the Panopticon is very similar - it's about the state maintaining control through the citizenry always knowing that they're watched - while Habermas's idea of a "lifeworld" ("metis" in this article) which is "colonized by expert systems" is the same phenomena.