The decolonial turn is on the road to contingency

Abstract

In this short commentary, I reflect on the situated perspective that grounds data colonialism as a critique of the nature of control embedded in contemporary data-driven practices. I argue that data-driven practices represent particular configurations of control and contingency. While the data colonialism thesis is a consequential orienting principle to analyze control, the pursuit of the decolonial turn in critical data and technology studies also requires contending with the contingencies of designing, implementing, and appropriating data-driven practices.