Critical data studies: An introduction

Abstract

Critical Data Studies (CDS) explore the unique cultural, ethical, and critical challenges posed by Big Data. Rather than treat Big Data as only scientifically empirical and therefore largely neutral phenomena, CDS advocates the view that Big Data should be seen as always-already constituted within wider data assemblages. Assemblages is a concept that helps capture the multitude of ways that already-composed data structures inflect and interact with society, its organization and functioning, and the resulting impact on individuals' daily lives. CDS questions the many assumptions about Big Data that permeate contemporary literature on information and society by locating instances where Big Data may be naively taken to denote objective and transparent informational entities. In this introduction to the Big Data & Society CDS special theme, we briefly describe CDS work, its orientations, and principles.

Big Data-Driven Health Surveillance

“…They have agency and they express the agency (or lack thereof) of related actors (Iliadis and Russo 2016;Crawford, Gray and Miltner 2014). …”

“…These challenges, and the urgent need to reflect on, rethink and recapture the power related to vast and continually growing 'big data' sets have been forcefully stressed in the field of critical data studies (Iliadis and Russo 2016;Dalton, Taylor and Thatcher 2016;Kitchin and Lauriault 2014;. Approaches in this interdisciplinary research field examine practices of digital data collection, utilisation, and meaning-making in corporate, governmental, institutional, academic, and civic contexts.…”

Társadalomtudomány a Big Data korában

“…Ez sok eset-ben így is van, azonban a társadalomtudományok a korábban már említett leértékelő-désüket a kritikai adattanulmányok egyre fontosabbá váló területén tudják ellensú-lyozni. Ennek érdekében úgy árnyalják a túlságosan is funkcionalista és eredmény-központú megközelítést, hogy a (nagy) adatot a hatalmi viszonyok részének tekintik (Iliadis-Russo [2016]). Azok a hatalmas mennyiségű felhasználói adatok, amelyeket az emberekről gyűjtenek és tárolnak, a tőke egy speciális formájaként is meghatároz-hatók.…”

This Kinetic World: Rethinking the Grid (Neo-Baroque Calls)

“…On the one hand 'technology' could theoretically facilitate the growth of ecologically sustainable cities, with progressive urban planning informed, perhaps, by the simulations of strategy game SimCity. But cities bear the scars of history, and data are a form of power (Iliadis and Russo 2016 But what's coming down the pike isn't just about apps and urban infrastructure as we know it.…”