The term surveillance capitalism describes a novel market form and a specific logic of capitalist accumulation that shifts power from the individual to large corporations. Shoshana Zuboff introduced this framework to explain how technology companies claim ownership of knowledge and control critical information systems, effectively orchestrating an epistemic coup that challenges the foundations of democratic society.
Academic Foundation
Born in 1951, Shoshana Zuboff spent part of her childhood in Argentina before returning to the United States. She completed her undergraduate studies in philosophy at the University of Chicago and later earned a PhD in social psychology from Harvard University. In 1981, she joined the faculty of Harvard Business School, where she eventually served as the Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration and became one of the first women to achieve tenure at the institution.
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Her 1988 publication, In the Age of the Smart Machine: The Future of Work and Power, examined the implications of information technology within the workplace. The book introduced concepts such as the informating versus automating nature of digital tools, the abstraction of work, and the transition from a traditional division of labor to a division of learning. She argued that these changes inherently challenged established managerial authority.
The Support Economy
In 2002, Zuboff co-authored The Support Economy: Why Corporations Are Failing Individuals and the Next Episode of Capitalism with James Maxmin. This research analyzed the growing divide between commercial organizations and the individuals they serve. The authors posited that economic success in an individualized society would require moving away from mass production toward support-oriented relationships, leveraging digital capabilities to meet specific human needs.
Surveillance Capitalism and Instrumentarian Power
Zuboff explored the logic of surveillance capitalism in her 2019 book, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. She defined this economic order as a rogue mutation of capitalism that threatens individual autonomy through instrumentarian power. Her analysis suggests that existing antitrust and privacy laws remain inadequate for regulating the unprecedented accumulation of behavior-tracking data and algorithmic governance.
Fast facts
- Born: 1951
- Citizenship: United States
- Alma Mater: University of Chicago, Harvard University
- Key Appointment: Harvard Business School (1981)
- Award: Axel Springer Award (2019)
- Residence: Nobleboro, Maine
Questions readers ask
What is instrumentarian power?
It is a form of power introduced by Zuboff that threatens individual autonomy, resulting from the operations of surveillance capitalism.
What did she mean by the epistemic coup?
It refers to the process by which tech corporations claim the authority to decide who knows in society by asserting ownership over personal information.
Achievements
- Held posts at Harvard University, Harvard Business School and Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University
- Fields: social psychology, information technology and automation
