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Shoshana Zuboff

Bio: Shoshana Zuboff is an academic researcher from Harvard University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Capitalism & Work (electrical). The author has an hindex of 13, co-authored 19 publications receiving 7898 citations.

Papers
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Book
01 Sep 1989
TL;DR: A noted Harvard social scientist documents the pitfalls and promises of computerized technology in business life as discussed by the authors, concluding that "computerized technology can be used for both good and bad things".
Abstract: A noted Harvard social scientist documents the pitfalls and promises of computerized technology in business life..

2,769 citations

Book
15 Jan 2019
TL;DR: In this world of surveillance capitalism, profit depends not only on predicting but modifying our online behaviour as mentioned in this paper, which is the opposite of what we are concerned about in this paper, in this article.
Abstract: Society is at a turning point. The heady optimism that accompanied the advent of the Internet has gone, replaced with a deep unease as technology, capitalism and an unequal society combine to create the perfect storm. Tech companies are gathering our information online and selling it to the highest bidder, whether government or retailer. In this world of surveillance capitalism, profit depends not only on predicting but modifying our online behaviour. How will this fusion of capitalism and the digital shape the values that define our future?

1,825 citations

Book
01 Jan 1988

1,709 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An emergent logic of accumulation in the networked sphere, ‘surveillance capitalism,’ is described and its implications for ‘information civilization’ are considered and a distributed and largely uncontested new expression of power is christened: ‘Big Other.’
Abstract: This article describes an emergent logic of accumulation in the networked sphere, ‘surveillance capitalism,’ and considers its implications for ‘information civilization.’ The institutionalizing practices and operational assumptions of Google Inc. are the primary lens for this analysis as they are rendered in two recent articles authored by Google Chief Economist Hal Varian. Varian asserts four uses that follow from computer-mediated transactions: ‘data extraction and analysis,’ ‘new contractual forms due to better monitoring,’ ‘personalization and customization,’ and ‘continuous experiments.’ An examination of the nature and consequences of these uses sheds light on the implicit logic of surveillance capitalism and the global architecture of computer mediation upon which it depends. This architecture produces a distributed and largely uncontested new expression of power that I christen: ‘Big Other.’ It is constituted by unexpected and often illegible mechanisms of extraction, commodification, and control that effectively exile persons from their own behavior while producing new markets of behavioral prediction and modification. Surveillance capitalism challenges democratic norms and departs in key ways from the centuries-long evolution of market capitalism.

1,624 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
John Seely Brown1, Paul Duguid
TL;DR: Work, learning, and innovation in the context of actual communities and actual practices are discussed in this paper, where it is argued that the conventional descriptions of jobs mask not only the ways people work, but also significant learning and innovation generated in the informal communities-of-practice in which they work.
Abstract: Recent ethnographic studies of workplace practices indicate that the ways people actually work usually differ fundamentally from the ways organizations describe that work in manuals, training programs, organizational charts, and job descriptions. Nevertheless, organizations tend to rely on the latter in their attempts to understand and improve work practice. We examine one such study. We then relate its conclusions to compatible investigations of learning and of innovation to argue that conventional descriptions of jobs mask not only the ways people work, but also significant learning and innovation generated in the informal communities-of-practice in which they work. By reassessing work, learning, and innovation in the context of actual communities and actual practices, we suggest that the connections between these three become apparent. With a unified view of working, learning, and innovating, it should be possible to reconceive of and redesign organizations to improve all three.

8,227 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A set of principles for the conduct and evaluation of interpretive field research in information systems is proposed, along with their philosophical rationale, and the usefulness of the principles is illustrated by evaluating three publishedinterpretive field studies drawn from the IS research literature.
Abstract: This article discusses the conduct and evaluatoin of interpretive research in information systems. While the conventions for evaluating information systems case studies conducted according to the natural science model of social science are now widely accepted, this is not the case for interpretive field studies. A set of principles for the conduct and evaluation of interpretive field research in information systems is proposed, along with their philosophical rationale. The usefulness of the principles is illustrated by evaluating three published interpretive field studies drawn from the IS research literature. The intention of the paper is to further reflect and debate on the important subject of grounding interpretive research methodology.

5,588 citations

Book
25 Aug 2011
TL;DR: In this paper, a new theoretical model with which to examine the interaction between technology and organizations is developed. But the model is based on the assumption that technology is an objective, external force that would have deterministic impacts on organizational properties such as structure.
Abstract: This paper develops a new theoretical model with which to examine the interaction between technology and organizations. Early research studies assumed technology to be an objective, external force that would have deterministic impacts on organizational properties such as structure. Later researchers focused on the human aspect of technology, seeing it as the outcome of strategic choice and social action. This paper suggests that either view is incomplete, and proposes a reconceptualization of technology that takes both perspectives into account. A theoretical model—the structurational model of technology—is built on the basis of this new conceptualization, and its workings explored through discussion of a field study of information technology. The paper suggests that the reformulation of the technology concept and the structurational model of technology allow a deeper and more dialectical understanding of the interaction between technology and organizations. This understanding provides insight into the li...

4,158 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: It is suggested that much can be gained if a plurality of research perspectives is effectively employed to investigate information systems phenomena and that there exist other philosophical assumptions that can inform studies of the relationships between information technology, people, and organizations.
Abstract: We examined 155 behavioral information systems research articles published from 1983-1988and found that while this research is not rooted in a single overarching theoretical perspective itdoes exhibit a single set of philosophical assumptions about the nature of valid evidence andthe phenomena of interest to information systems researchers. We argue in this paper that thesephilosophical assumptions draw on the natural science tradition, and hence may not always beappropriate for inquiry into the relationships between information technology and people or organizations. In particular, we suggest that the development and use of information technologywithin organizations is inherently processual and contextual, and that these characteristics are notalways adequately captured by the philosophical assumptions prevalent in information systemsresearch. Positing social process as central to information systems phenomena asserts theimportance of studying the ongoing interactions among people, information technology andorganizations, as these are situated historically and contextually.We argue in this paper that the dominant research perspective in information systems research isnot well-equipped to deal with situated interactions over time, and propose additional researchphilosophies to augment the one currently favored by behavioral information systemsresearchers. We outline the features of such additional research perspectives, the interpretive andthe critical, providing empirical examples to illustrate how and when they may be useful. Weconclude that multiple research perspectives can usefully be employed within the informationsystems community to enrich understanding of behavioral information systems phenomena.

4,038 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose an extension to the structurational perspective on technology that develops a practice lens to examine how people, as they interact with a technology in their ongoing practices, enact structures which shape their emergent and situated use of that technology.
Abstract: As both technologies and organizations undergo dramatic changes in form and function, organizational researchers are increasingly turning to concepts of innovation, emergence, and improvisation to help explain the new ways of organizing and using technology evident in practice. With a similar intent, I propose an extension to the structurational perspective on technology that develops a practice lens to examine how people, as they interact with a technology in their ongoing practices, enact structures which shape their emergent and situated use of that technology. Viewing the use of technology as a process of enactment enables a deeper understanding of the constitutive role of social practices in the ongoing use and change of technologies in the workplace. After developing this lens, I offer an example of its use in research, and then suggest some implications for the study of technology in organizations.

4,036 citations