Transformation of Capitalism in the 21st Century: “Surveillance Capitalism” Concept by Shoshana Zuboff

Transformation of Capitalism in the 21st Century:
“Surveillance Capitalism” Concept by Shoshana Zuboff


Safronov E.E.

Junior Research Fellow, Institute of Philosophy Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, Russia safronoveduard@gmail.com

ID of the Article: 8606

Rubric: Reflecting on a book

For citation:

Safronov E.E. Transformation of Capitalism in the 21st Century: “Surveillance Capitalism” Concept by Shoshana Zuboff. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2021. No 4. P. 165-172


 Full Text.


Abstract

Among the works falling under the umbrella term “digital capitalism”, Shoshanna Zuboff’s book “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism” (2019), which continues her concept of “distributed capitalism”, holds an important place. “Surveillance capitalism” is a new economic order that use human experience as raw material. The article discusses Zuboff’s theory of the «three moderns» and the key imperatives of “surveillance capitalism”: data extraction and predicting consumer behavior. The author concludes with critical arguments pointing out the weaknesses of this concept.


Keywords
surveillance capitalism; data capitalism; digital capitalism; platform capitalism; social philosophy; social theory

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