Welcome to a world where technology shapes the contours of society. A world where tech giants, the BigTech, have not only transformed our ways of living and communicating but also our relationship with power and politics. A world where, under the aegis of technology, we become soldiers, sometimes even unknowingly.
Asma Mhalla, a researcher in political science at CNRS and a lecturer at Sciences Po Paris, Polytechnique, and Columbia University, has delved into this essential question in her latest work “Technopolitics: How Technology Makes Us Soldiers.” Today, she honors us by sharing her vision of technopolitics, this discipline that analyzes the intersection between technology and politics.
The Age of Technopolitics
The world is undergoing a profound transformation. Not only our ways of living but also our ways of thinking are being disrupted by the rapid rise of information technologies. From social networks to autonomous vehicles, including facial recognition algorithms, technology is everywhere. It has become, as Mhalla emphasizes, “an informational infrastructure” that serves as the foundation for a new civilization.
The era we live in is marked by three major breaks. First, the transition from mass democracy to hyper-personalization of the masses. Next, the rise of hyper-speed technologies, plunging humanity into a race against time. Finally, the emergence of hybrid actors, such as BigTech, which are both economic, geopolitical, military, and ideological entities.
BigTech, These Hybrid Actors
The BigTech, which Mhalla prefers to refer to using this generic term rather than the familiar acronyms GAFA or GAFAM, are not mere companies. They are hybrid entities that, by their very nature, have transformed the political landscape. Their influence is not limited to the economic realm: they are also key actors in geopolitical and military spheres.
These tech giants hold considerable power, not only over our individual lives but also over society as a whole. They can frame our uses, collect and analyze vast amounts of big data, and even shape our cognitive reflexes.
The Project of Total Technology
Mhalla refers to a “project of total technology” to describe these actors’ desire to impose their worldview, to frame our uses, and to manipulate information on a large scale. A project that goes far beyond the collection and analysis of personal data, also touching upon industrial and military data.
Take, for example, Elon Musk, the famous entrepreneur at the helm of SpaceX and Tesla. His portfolio of companies, which includes the influential social network Twitter and the neurotechnology startup Neuralink, gives him considerable influence over our digital lives. By controlling our communications, our movements, and even our brains, Musk perfectly illustrates what the project of total technology entails.
The Ideology Behind Technology
Behind this project of total technology lies specific ideologies, carried by the technological elite of Silicon Valley. There are isolationist currents advocating for border closures and world fragmentation, as well as anti-progressive trends opposing the dominant progressive ideology.
These ideologies are not neutral. They influence the decisions made by BigTech and have repercussions on society as a whole. That is why it is essential to understand and take them into account in our analyses of technopolitics.
Technopolitics, An Indispensable Discipline
Technopolitics, as Asma Mhalla clearly demonstrates, is an indispensable discipline for understanding the challenges of the contemporary world. It allows us to grasp how technology, driven by hybrid actors such as BigTech, transforms our societies and our relationship with power.
In the era of total technology, where technology turns us into soldiers, it is more necessary than ever to develop a critical and informed perspective on the ongoing transformations. Because, as Mhalla aptly states, “the essence of technique is not technical; it is political.”
And you, are you ready to become a soldier of technopolitics?
