DELETING DYSTOPIA: RE-ASSERTING HUMAN PRIORITIES IN THE AGE OF SURVEILLANCE CAPITALISM By Richard A Slaughter Foresight International, Brisbane, 2021
By embedding its values and goals into concrete technologies, capital seeks to assert dominion over the future - constraining what type of social change is viable. This makes techno-politics a natural battleground for staging struggles over what utopias are imagined and whose utopia is materialised. - Jathan Sadowski, Real Life, 2021
General Introduction
T
no ‘ordinary’ hazards since, even in the present, relatively early stages, the
HIS book presents a critical analysis
tendency toward unliveable dystopian
of the IT revolution in the early 21st
futures is becoming unavoidable. Thus,
Century and, in so doing, seeks to
to conf ront and ‘delete’ dystopia is
account for the way that innovations
not merely a question of prudence. It
initially regarded by early pioneers as
constitutes a vital series of time-critical
liberating and helpful have become
investments in the futures of our
absorbed into an oppressive global
grandchildren and of future generations. There’s something distinctly odd,
system that appears more dangerous and invasive with each passing year. It’s not a
or ambiguous, about this story. The
particularly easy call since this is a huge
systems and devices that we’ve become
subject. Moreover, many of the services
so dependent upon only reveal very
that the system provides appear, on the
limited aspects of themselves to human
surface, to meet authentic human needs.
senses in the context of our everyday
We tend to forget that in order to make
lives. It can be a shock to realise that a
each and every device appear desirable,
vast slice of reality, known only to a few,
every item of consumer hardware (smart
controlled by fewer still, holds us in an
phones, tablets, screens and related
the rationales and practices that create
invisible grasp, directs our actions and,
devices) has been subjected to purposeful
such radically diminished and reductive
in the process, by-passes our conscious
design and testing. The whole effort is
views of human life. The point here is
senses and undermines our critical
backed by pervasive high-end marketing
not that the products of this revolution
judgement. To deal with this ‘other world’
that has, over several decades, sought
are not useful. Clearly, they are and may
of hidden codes, distant servers, cloud
to construct entire populations as
well continue to be. But the current
repositories, hidden power structures,
passive consumers. Not, it should
‘terms of engagement’ are unacceptable
obscure algorithms and the like, we need
be noted, as autonomous beings,
both in principle and in practice. What
to become conscious of them and how
meaning-makers, who deserve be seen
is clearly at stake are the growing costs,
they operate. That is a primary purpose
and respected as such.
dependencies and long-term hazards
of this book. In this connection, some
that have crept up on entire populations
readers may recall the Matrix film trilogy.
almost unawares. These are, however,
It drew on similar concerns by depicting
It follows that, in order to understand what is at stake, we need to conf ront
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HUMAN FUTURES
