Algorithms and Subjectivity: The Subversion of Critical Knowledge

129 Pages·2022·1.71 MB·English

by  Eran Fisher

Algorithms and Subjectivity
In this thought-provoking volume, Eran Fisher interrogates the
relationship between algorithms as epistemic devices and modern
notions of subjectivity.
Over the past few decades, as the instrumentalization of algorithms
has created knowledge that informs our decisions, preferences, tastes,
and actions, and the very sense of who we are, they have also undercut,
and arguably undermined, the Enlightenment-era ideal of the subject.
Fisher finds that as algorithms enable a reality in which knowledge is
created by circumventing the participation of the self, they also
challenge contemporary notions of subjectivity.
Through four case-studies, this book provides an empirical and
theoretical investigation of this transformation, analyzing how
algorithmic knowledge differs from the ideas of critical knowledge
which emerged during modernity – Fisher argues that algorithms
create a new type of knowledge, which in turn changes our
fundamental sense of self and our concept of subjectivity.
This book will make a timely contribution to the social study of
algorithms and will prove especially valuable for scholars working at
the intersections of media and communication studies, internet studies,
information studies, the sociology of technology, the philosophy of
technology, and science and technology studies.
Eran Fisher is Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology,
Political Science, and Communication at the Open University of Israel.
He studies the link between digital media technology and society. His
books include Media and New Capitalism in the Digital Age (2010),
Internet and Emotions (2014; co-edited with Tova Benski), and
Reconsidering Value and Labour in the Digital Age (2015; co-edited
with Christian Fuchs).
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Edited by Ellen McCracken
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Gavin Mueller
Mobilizing the Latinx Vote
Media, Identity, and Politics
Arthur D. Soto-Vásquez
Playlisting
Collecting Music, Remediated
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Elliot T. Panek
Algorithms and Subjectivity
The Subversion of Critical Knowledge
Eran Fisher
Algorithms and
Subjectivity
The Subversion of Critical
Knowledge
Eran Fisher
First published 2022
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an
informa business
© 2022 Eran Fisher
The right of Eran Fisher to be identified as author of this work,
and of Yoav Mehozay for his contribution to Chapter 2 and
Norma Musih for her contribution to Chapter 4, has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be
trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for
identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-032-05194-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-05207-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-19656-3 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003196563
Typeset in Times New Roman
by MPS Limited, Dehradun
To Uri Ram

Contents
Introduction: Subjectivity redundant 1
1 Can algorithmic knowledge be critical? 8
2 How algorithms think about humans?
with Yoav Mehozay 30
3 Can algorithms tell us who we are? 50
4 Can algorithms make aesthetic judgments?
with Norma Musih 67
5 Do algorithms have a right to the city? 88
Epilogue 109
Index 117

Introduction: Subjectivity redundant
In recent years, almost unnoticeably, algorithms have become close
companions. They are now embedded in digital media – from dating
sites to navigational applications – hence taking part in almost every
realm of life. Algorithms render the plethora of data that individuals
create as they use digital media into knowledge about them, pri-
marily in order to provide them with personalized content that
matches their personality, taste, and will. This algorithmic knowl-
edge, in turn, shapes how we experience the digital environment,
how we see the world, and how we think about ourselves. At the
heart of this book is a dual argument. First, the book argues that
algorithms create a new way of knowing, which, in turn, changes our
fundamental sense of self and our concept of subjectivity. The book
analyzes algorithms as epistemic devices, geared toward creating
knowledge, which informs users’ decisions, preferences, tastes, and
actions, and changes the very sense of who they are. Second, in doing
so, algorithms subvert a key tenet of modern subjectivity: the par-
ticipation of the self in creating knowledge about the self, its capa-
city for mobilizing self-reflection and critical knowledge in order to
expand its realm of freedom.
With modernity and with the Enlightenment, the constitution of
subjectivity has been entwined with knowledge. Subjectivity – under-
stood here as a quasi-transcendental (both utopian and actual) realm
of individual freedom and authenticity – could only be achieved by a
self that gained critical knowledge about the world, about social rea-
lity, and most prominently about itself. As scientific and humanist
knowledge had increasingly replaced theological cosmologies, in-
dividuals increasingly participated in creating that knowledge. And as
they created knowledge about themselves, they also constituted their
subjectivity as a realm of freedom, as that realm that allows in-
dividuals to articulate “this is what I think/like/want”.
DOI: 10.4324/9781003196563-1