B1686 - Digital Policies (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide an overview of the major challenges posed by digital technologies today in terms of public governance, data accumulation and labour transformations. Through the analysis of key contemporary critical theories, students will learn to handle concepts and issues in relation to digital infrastructures, surveillance capitalism and platform labour.

Course contents

The course consists of three modules, during which the major challenges posed by digital technologies will be addressed from a theoretical and political perspective. Particular attention will be given to social and material processes, alongside discussions of some of the main critical theories on the digital realm and artificial intelligence.

The first module will analyze the logics of digitalization, starting from the rise of computing and the establishment of the cybernetic and logistics paradigm, to algorithmic power and recent developments related to artificial intelligence. This module will discuss some of the key critical theories concerning social transformations linked to the development and use of protocols and software.

The second module will examine the global materiality of digitalization, focusing on the role of infrastructures, raw materials, and environmental impact. This module will address the role of structures such as data centers and connectivity networks as material elements of the cloud, and the rise a new spatial dimension intertwined with geopolitics.

The third module will analyze several aspects of digitized society and the forms of conflict it encompasses. By discussing the relationship between technology, capitalism, and power, topics related to labor organization, the role of platforms, and the penetration of algorithmic power in governance practices will be addressed.

 

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is suggested that they get in touch as soon as possible with the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) and with the lecturer in order to seek together the most effective strategies for following the lessons and/or preparing for the examination.

Readings/Bibliography

The exam program is as follows:

A. A general reference text:

Kate Crawford, Né intelligente né artificiale. Il lato oscuro dell’IA, trad. it. Bologna, il Mulino, 2021.

B. One of the following texts:

Francesca Balestrieri e Luca Balestrieri, Tecnologie dell’impero. AI, quantum computing, 6G e la nuova geopolitica del potere, Roma, LUISS University Press, 2024.

Tiziano Bonini, Emiliano Treré, Algorithms of Resistance. The Everyday Fight against Platform Power, MIT Press, 2024.

Benjamin Bratton, The Stack. On Software and Sovereignty, MIT University Press, 2016.

Antonio A. Casilli, Schiavi del clic. Perché lavoriamo tutti per il nuovo capitalismo? (2019), trad. it. Milano, Feltrinelli, 2021.

Keller Easterling, Lo spazio in cui ci muoviamo. Infrastruttura come sistema operativo (2014), trad. it Roma, Treccani, 2019.

Alexander R. Galloway, Incomputabile. Gioco e politica nella lunga era digitale (2021), trad. it. Roma, Meltemi, 2023.

Into the Black Box (a cura di), Capitalismo 4.0. Genealogia della Rivoluzione Digitale, Milano, Meltemi, 2021.

Briant Merchant, Blood in the Machine. The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech, New York-Boston-London, LB, 2023.

Matteo Pasquinelli, The Eye of the Master. A Social History of Artificial Intelligence, London-New York, Verso, 2023 [di prossima pubblicazione in traduzione italiana per Carocci].

Simone Pieranni, Tecnocina, Storia della tecnologia cinese dal 1949 ad oggi, Torino, add editore, 2023.

Nicole Starosielski, The Undersea Network, Durham, Duke University Press, 2015.

Shoshana Zuboff, Il capitalismo sorveglianza. Il futuro dell’umanità nell’era dei nuovi poteri, trad. it. Roma, LUISS University Press, 2019.

Additional texts may be agreed with the teacher.

The indicated texts are regarded as general references for the course; further references will be provided during the classes.

Teaching methods

The course will primarily be conducted through lectures. However, there will be ample space for collective discussion, and active participation from students is encouraged.

Assessment methods

The final assessment will be oral.

 

Non-attending students must bring text A and one text from list B, to be agreed upon with the teacher via email.

 

Students attending classes are encouraged although not required to submit a written paper (approximately 4.000 words) on a topic agreed upon with the teacher, or present the same program, consisting of text A and one text from list B, agreed upon with the instructor. The paper must be submitted one week before the exam date, during which it will be discussed with the teacher.

 

Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities. It is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) with ample time in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to the teaching objectives.

Office hours

See the website of Giorgio Grappi