In 'The Age of Surveillance Capitalism', Shoshana Zuboff unveils the hidden mechanisms behind the digital economy that manipulate personal data for profit. This gripping exploration reveals how tech giants harvest our behaviors and emotions, reshaping our societies and economies. Zuboff warns of a future where privacy is obliterated, and our very autonomy is at stake. With compelling evidence and insightful analysis, she urges us to reclaim control over our lives and destinies. Are we prepared to confront the consequences of this digital revolution?
By Shoshana Zuboff
Published: 2018
"‘In the age of surveillance capitalism, our personal data has become the raw material for a new kind of power, one that redefines privacy, autonomy, and the very fabric of our society.’"
The challenges to humanity posed by the digital future, the first detailed examination of the unprecedented form of power called "surveillance capitalism," and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control our behavior. Shoshana Zuboff's interdisciplinary breadth and depth enable her to come to grips with the social, political, business, and technological meaning of the changes taking place in our time. We are at a critical juncture in the confrontation between the vast power of giant high-tech companies and government, the hidden economic logic of surveillance capitalism, and the propaganda of machine supremacy that threaten to shape and control human life. Will the brazen new methods of social engineering and behavior modification threaten individual autonomy and democratic rights and introduce extreme new forms of social inequality? Or will the promise of the digital age be one of individual empowerment and democratization? The Age of Surveillance Capitalism is neither a hand-wringing narrative of danger and decline nor a digital fairy tale. Rather, it offers a deeply reasoned and evocative examination of the contests over the next chapter of capitalism that will decide the meaning of information civilization in the twenty-first century. The stark issue at hand is whether we will be the masters of information and machines or its slaves.
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“‘In the age of surveillance capitalism, our personal data has become the raw material for a new kind of power, one that redefines privacy, autonomy, and the very fabric of our society.’”
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
By Shoshana Zuboff
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Shoshana Zuboff is an American author, scholar, and thought leader, best known for her work on the social, economic, and psychological implications of digital technology. She gained prominence with her influential books, including 'In the Age of the Smart Machine' and 'The Support Economy,' which explore the intersection of technology and society. Zuboff's most notable work, 'The Age of Surveillance Capitalism,' critiques how major tech corporations manipulate personal data and influence individual behavior. Her writing is characterized by a rigorous analytical approach, blending empirical research with narrative insight, allowing her to engage both academic and general audiences in profound discussions on surveillance, privacy, and power in the digital age.
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