Commodification and Disruption
There is little disagreement that digital technologies are transforming contemporary economies and societies. However, scholars have only begun to systematically think about how digitalization – the process whereby more and more of what we say, think, and do becomes mediated by digital technologies...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society |
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| Online Access: | https://ojs.weizenbaum-institut.de/index.php/wjds/article/view/58 |
| _version_ | 1797400578276458496 |
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| author | Timo Seidl |
| author_facet | Timo Seidl |
| author_sort | Timo Seidl |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
There is little disagreement that digital technologies are transforming contemporary economies and societies. However, scholars have only begun to systematically think about how digitalization – the process whereby more and more of what we say, think, and do becomes mediated by digital technologies – is both driven by and transformative of capitalism. This paper argues that when one speaks about digitalization, one cannot be silent about capitalism. It reconstructs commodification and disruption as key features of capitalist development. It then shows how three digital revolutions – the platform, (big) data, and artificial intelligence revolutions – have ushered in a new wave of commodification and disruption, giving rise to digital capitalism. Finally, it discusses the challenges commodification and disruption pose in the form of redistribution of resources, rebalancing of power, rule adaption, and market re-embedding. The paper brings together a wide range of scholarship to offer a historically and theoretically grounded framework for how to think about and study the rise of digital capitalism.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T01:56:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-44b1224c95b245f1b2f5e01873b89f7f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2748-5625 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T01:56:51Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society |
| spelling | doaj.art-44b1224c95b245f1b2f5e01873b89f7f2023-12-08T13:44:46ZengWeizenbaum Institute for the Networked SocietyWeizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society2748-56252023-07-013110.34669/wi.wjds/3.1.2Commodification and DisruptionTimo Seidl0University of Vienna There is little disagreement that digital technologies are transforming contemporary economies and societies. However, scholars have only begun to systematically think about how digitalization – the process whereby more and more of what we say, think, and do becomes mediated by digital technologies – is both driven by and transformative of capitalism. This paper argues that when one speaks about digitalization, one cannot be silent about capitalism. It reconstructs commodification and disruption as key features of capitalist development. It then shows how three digital revolutions – the platform, (big) data, and artificial intelligence revolutions – have ushered in a new wave of commodification and disruption, giving rise to digital capitalism. Finally, it discusses the challenges commodification and disruption pose in the form of redistribution of resources, rebalancing of power, rule adaption, and market re-embedding. The paper brings together a wide range of scholarship to offer a historically and theoretically grounded framework for how to think about and study the rise of digital capitalism. https://ojs.weizenbaum-institut.de/index.php/wjds/article/view/58Digital CapitalismDigitalizationDisruptionCommodification |
| spellingShingle | Timo Seidl Commodification and Disruption Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society Digital Capitalism Digitalization Disruption Commodification |
| title | Commodification and Disruption |
| title_full | Commodification and Disruption |
| title_fullStr | Commodification and Disruption |
| title_full_unstemmed | Commodification and Disruption |
| title_short | Commodification and Disruption |
| title_sort | commodification and disruption |
| topic | Digital Capitalism Digitalization Disruption Commodification |
| url | https://ojs.weizenbaum-institut.de/index.php/wjds/article/view/58 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT timoseidl commodificationanddisruption |