Data colonialism: compelling and useful, but whither epistemes?

This commentary reviews the strengths of the concept of data colonialism, arguing that it makes a strong and useful contribution to the debates on how to make sense of the myriad effects of datafication. It points out, however, that the key decolonial insight about supposed European objectivity are weakly integrated into the concept: while it gestures to decoloniality, it is primarily about explaining datafication as resource extraction. As a result, the concept has non-decolonial implications as well.

Automated summary

This commentary acknowledges the strengths of the concept of data colonialism, but highlights that the decolonial insights about European objectivity are weakly integrated into the concept. While it gestures towards decoloniality, it primarily focuses on explaining datafication as resource extraction, resulting in non-decolonial implications as well.