Situating Data

“This carefully curated book brings together a stellar group of scholars to tackle the relationship between data and culture, and their implications for theory, empirical research, and creative practice. The collection paints a rich and detailed picture of the myriad ways culture is being datafied, and demonstrates that cultural and media studies can help us better understand the politics of data. Through a diverse and imaginative set of contributions and a wide range of fascinating examples, the book shows how mundanity, meaning, mediation, and materiality shape datafication’s social and environmental consequences, and how they might guide our responses to it in the future. The book is a much-needed contribution to the critical data studies scholarship and should be essential reading for researchers and students in this field.” – Jean Burgess, Professor of Digital Media, Queensland University of Technology (AUS)
“What can data do, not just for us but to us? This formidable collection of essays offers timely lessons on the importance of data in contemporary cultural practices, from the craft of coffee roasting to the performances of Janelle Monáe. I recommend this book to anyone who seeks to understand data, not just as facts, but as cultural artifacts. With precision and panache, it illustrates how data shape experience and power relations across radically different contexts.” – Yanni Loukissas, Associate Professor of Digital Media, Georgia Tech (US)