Kelly Bronson on the shared politics of agribusiness and activists [video]

Tertulias Fredericton ended its fall 2022 series with Kelly Bronson on her book, “The Immaculate Conception of Data: Agribusiness, Activists, and Their Shared Politics of the Future,” on December 7. The talk is now available for viewing here –

About the book

Agribusinesses are among the oldest oligopoly corporations in the world, and their concentration gives them an advantage over other food system actors. Kelly Bronson explores what happens when big data get caught up in pre-existing arrangements of power. Her richly ethnographic account details the work of corporate scientists, farmers using the data, and activist “hackers” building open-source data platforms. Actors working in private and public contexts have divergent views on whom new technology is for, how it should be developed, and what kinds of agriculture it should support. Surprisingly, despite their differences, these groups share a way of speaking about data and its value for the future. Bronson calls this the immaculate conception of data, arguing that this phenomenon is a dangerous framework for imagining big data and what it might do for society.

About the author

Kelly Bronson holds the Canada Research Chair in Science & Society at University of Ottawa in Canada. She is a social scientist studying the societal and ethical dimensions of controversial technologies and their governance—from GMOs to big data. She has published her work in national (Canadian Journal of Communication) and international journals (Science as Culture, Journal of Responsible Innovation, Big Data and Society). She has just published a book on big data and AI in agriculture with McGill-Queen’s University Press titled, Immaculate Conception of Data: Agribusiness, activists and their shared politics of the future.

What is a tertulia? A tertulia can be described as a kind of philosophy café where participants talk about big thinkers, artists and ideas. This winter and spring, Tertulias Fredericton has put together a series on activists and social movements that have shaped our lives and allowed us to imagine a better future.

Tertulias Fredericton is supported by Milda’s Pizza and the NB Media Co-op, publisher of videos of the Tertulia talks.

For more information, visit Tertulias on Facebook or contact: fredericton.tertulia@gmail.com.