The Immaculate Conception of Data: Agribusiness, Activists, and Their Shared Politics of the Future - Softcover

Bronson, Kelly

 
9780228011224: The Immaculate Conception of Data: Agribusiness, Activists, and Their Shared Politics of the Future
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0228011221 ISBN 13: 9780228011224
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2022

Synopsis

Every new tractor now contains built-in sensors that collect data and stream it to cloud-based infrastructure. Seed and chemical companies are using these data, and these agribusinesses are a form of big tech alongside firms like Google and Facebook.The Immaculate Conception of Data peeks behind the secretive legal agreements surrounding agricultural big data to trace how it is used and with what consequences. Agribusinesses are among the oldest oligopoly corporations in the world, and their concentration gives them an advantage over other food system actors. Kelly Bronson explores what happens when big data get caught up in pre-existing arrangements of power. Her richly ethnographic account details the work of corporate scientists, farmers using the data, and activist “hackers” building open-source data platforms. Actors working in private and public contexts have divergent views on whom new technology is for, how it should be developed, and what kinds of agriculture it should support. Surprisingly, despite their differences, these groups share a way of speaking about data and its value for the future. Bronson calls this the immaculate conception of data, arguing that this phenomenon is a dangerous framework for imagining big data and what it might do for society.Drawing our attention to agriculture as an important new site for big tech criticism, The Immaculate Conception of Data uniquely bridges science and technology studies, critical data studies, and food studies, bringing to light salient issues related to data justice and a sustainable food system.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

Kelly Bronson is Canada Research Chair in Science and Society at the University of Ottawa.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
McGill-Queen's University Press
Publication date
2022
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0228011221
ISBN 13 
9780228011224
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
224

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780228011217: The Immaculate Conception of Data: Agribusiness, Activists, and Their Shared Politics of the Future

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0228011213 ISBN 13:  9780228011217
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2022
Hardcover