Tertulia – Kelly Bronson on The Immaculate Conception of Data: Agribusiness, Activists, and Their Shared Politics of the Future
Tertulias Fredericton is back this fall with a book launch edition. On December 7, Kelly Bronson on her book, The Immaculate Conception of Data: Agribusiness, Activists, and Their Shared Politics of the Future.
Wednesday, December 7 at 7:30pm (Atlantic time)
On Zoom. Register for the Zoom link here: https://zoom.us/…/
On Zoom. Register for the Zoom link here: https://zoom.us/…/
Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/
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.
Milda’s Pizza is supporting Tertulias Fredericton this fall with a $3 discount on 10 inch pizzas on Tertulia night and free delivery 5 minutes from the cafe. Discount code: Tertulias.
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.
