‘Feeding the world, byte by byte’: emergent imaginaries of data productivism

Abstract

Recent scholarship has shed light on how data-driven food systems may entrench productivist and neo-productivist visions of ‘feeding the world.’ In this paper, we examine the narratives and institution-building practices of global development actors, asking: What stories do they tell about how data will transform food systems? Whose ‘data’ are legitimized and whose are overlooked? Our findings point to an emerging imaginary of data productivism—which constructs the making and accumulation of data as a socially intrinsic good. We examine the implications of data productivism for reconfiguring global capitalism, reproducing the modern-colonial order, and inciting social movements to anticipate its hold.