Rethinking Datafication: Notes on de-Westernizing Critical Data Studies
Date: 14.04.2025 14:30 - 15:30
Lecture / presentation
Format: hybrid
Location: Milano, Italy
Event Fee: Free
Organizer(s):
PHILTECH Research Center for the Philosophy of Technology University of Milan
Stefania Milan (stefaniamilan.net) works at the intersection of political participation, digital technology, and governance, with emphasis on infrastructure, citizen agency, and resistance. In the last years, she took part in the Big Data from the South Initiative (BigDataSur) which has addressed the urgent need to de-Westernize critical data studies and reimagine datafication through the perspectives of the Souths. Drawing from Latin American decolonial scholarship, BigDataSur has provided a space to interrogate the epistemological, ontological, and ethical dimensions of datafication beyond universalistic interpretations, acknowledging the South as a plural and dynamic space of knowledge production. Highlighting how Latin American thinkers – such as Martín-Barbero, Freire, Mignolo, Rodríguez, and Escobar – offer crucial insights for decolonizing the datafied society, such as the importance of agency, alternative imaginaries, and the necessity of transforming not only data practices but also knowledge production itself, this seminar will challenge dominant narratives in data studies and calls for an ethics of reparation that recognizes diverse ways of knowing and engaging with data.
Post created by: Lymor Wolf Goldstein