Abstract

FIGUEIRAS, Rita. Mediatization process and the emerge of surveillance capitalism. OBS* [online]. 2021, vol.15, n.1, pp.137-149.  Epub July 26, 2022. ISSN 1646-5954.  https://doi.org/10.15847/obsobs15120211648.

The concept of surveillance capitalism, christened by Shoshone Zuboff, is used in this article to explore the relationship between mediatization and capitalism. The concept describes a new economic logic based upon the monetization of behavioral data. This subspecie of capitalism is related to the mediatization process as contemporary societies may be described by the increasing relevance of media technologies in varies dimensions of life whereby daily routines are profoundly embedded in mobile media - namely, smartphones, tablets, WiFi networks and social media accounts. This means that individuals produce a growing amount of data about themselves and as increasing dimensions of life depend upon digital mediation processes, more economic sectors adapt themselves and are dependent upon technologies. Corporate surveillance created a system of extraction of profit by sistematically collecting and analyzing data to capture the digital consumer. This article departs from the abstract model of dynamics of capitalism, theorized by Rosa et al. (2017), to debate media indispensability to the stabilization of capitalism. As its stability is precarious, capitalism needs permanent acceleration to achieve new levels of stability and in this theoretical essay it is argued that mediatization plays an accelerator role in the escalation of surveillance capitalism at the same time that by doing it capitalism guarantees its social stability. In this context, “accelerator” must be understood as a functional precondition for assuring a continuos acceleration process.

Keywords : Mediatization; Capitalism; Datafication; Surveillance.

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