Algorithms and Subjectivity: The Subversion of Critical Knowledge

Description

In this thought-provoking volume, Eran Fisher interrogates the relationship between algorithms as epistemic devices and modern notions of subjectivity. Over the past few decades, as the instrumentalization of algorithms has created knowledge that informs our decisions, preferences, tastes, and actions, and the very sense of who we are, they have also undercut, and arguably undermined, the Enlightenment-era ideal of the subject. Fisher finds that as algorithms enable a reality in which knowledge is created by circumventing the participation of the self, they also challenge contemporary notions of subjectivity. Through four case-studies, this book provides an empirical and theoretical investigation of this transformation, analyzing how algorithmic knowledge differs from the ideas of critical knowledge which emerged during modernity - Fisher argues that algorithms create a new type of knowledge, which in turn changes our fundamental sense of self and our concept of subjectivity. This book will make a timely contribution to the social study of algorithms and will prove especially valuable for scholars working at the intersections of media and communication studies, internet studies, information studies, the sociology of technology, the philosophy of technology, and science and technology studies. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Introduction: Subjectivity redundant 1. Can algorithmic knowledge be critical? Algorithms and you Know thyself Algorithmic knowledge and human interests The performance of algorithmic knowledge Subjectivity, algorithms, and privacy Interface algorithms Subjectivity redundant Note References 2. How algorithms think about humans? Media epistemes and the changing conception of the individual Seeing the audience in the mass media: The scientific episteme Seeing the audience in digital media: The algorithmic episteme I User-generated data II Inter-connected platforms III Algorithms Turning data into self: How algorithms see people Conclusion: Toward a post-social conception of the individual References 3. Can algorithms tell us who we are? Know thyself, or let algorithms do so The selfish ledger: Decoding the self The epistemology of the selfish ledger: A summary Self, media, knowledge: A historical view The personal diary Audience and subjectivity: Knowing the self by means of presenting Protestantism as an impetus to know Between the ledger and the diary Conclusion: Knowledge without subjects Notes References 4. Can algorithms make aesthetic judgments? Recommendation engines: Automating aesthetic judgment Algorithms in culture: Between technical neutrality and political worldview Aesthetic judgment and recommendation engines I Aesthetic judgment as objective II Aesthetic judgment as individualistic Arendt's conception of aesthetic judgment and culture Conclusion References 5. Do algorithms have a right to the city? Roads, traffic, and spatial politics Algorithmic spatiality Upholding residents' privileged right to the city "Undermining our way of life" Waze: Upholding the algorithmic right to the city Conclusion Notes References Epilogue References Index