Review of Kitchin's 'The Data Revolution'

Abstract

Rob Kitchin's latest book is an important addition to the emerging field of critical data studies, in that it manages to both make a clear, convincing and reasonably detailed case for why it is necessary to look critically at what data are-and, just as crucially, what they do in the world-and provide stimulating insights and suggestions for further research in this area. Kitchin's central claim is that we are in the midst of a revolution that is radically changing how data are produced, managed, stored and analysed, with far reaching implications for governments, businesses, civil society and science. The book charts the data revolution currently underway, providing in the process a conceptual and critical analysis of data and their modes of production and use. Despite their importance, little conceptual attention has traditionally been paid to data, at least in comparison with the sophistication and depth of the debate on the nature of knowledge and of information. In contrast, efforts have largely been directed towards the development of sound methods for sampling and analysing in order to ensure the validity of the conclusions made on the back of data. However, these are not-despite their name-a neutral given, but a wholly social construct; therefore, their unpacking is necessary in order to understand how data come into existence, how they do work in the world, and with what consequences. The book does this by introducing the notion of the data assemblage, and using it to examine three key components of the data revolution: data infrastructures, open data and Big Data. The notion of assemblage will be familiar to readers of this journal, from work carried out in Surveillance Studies (Haggerty and Ericson 2000; Murakami Wood 2013), Geography (Anderson et al. 2012) and Urban Studies (Farías and Bender 2010; Brenner et al. 2011). Here, Kitchin uses it to stress how '[d]ata do not exist independently of ideas, techniques, technologies, systems, people and contexts … [but rather should be understood] as the central concern of a complex sociotechnical assemblage' (p. 24). Shifting attention from data per se to data assemblages has three implications. First, and most obviously, that a variety of apparatuses and elements-rationalities, political and economic configurations, places, practices and materialities-come together to create data; second, that the relationship between data and their assemblages is one of mutual constitution; third, that these assemblages are not stable formations, but are constantly changing and evolving, shedding and acquiring different bits and pieces along the way. Under this light, any analysis of a specific data assemblage is, thus, essentially concerned with three questions: how has a specific assemblage come to be created? How do the different elements comprising it interact with each other? What are the sources of tension and the directions of potential transformation? Book Review Kitchin, R. 2014. The Data Revolution: Big Data, Open Data, Data Infrastructures and Their Consequences. London: Sage 240pp. Paperback. £22.99. Print ISBN: 9781446287484.