Socio-Legal Studies 2022 Speaker Series #1

Dr. Natasha Tusikove (Criminology) – From the Internet Up: Data, knowledge, power and the reshaping of the global economy

In this presentation, Dr. Tusikov will present findings from her forthcoming book, From the Internet Up, co-authored with Dr. Blayne Haggart (Brock University). The book argues that the control of knowledge – particularly through intellectual property rights and data governance – has emerged as a key vector of economic and political power in the global political economy.

Dr. Natasha Tusikov

This change is reconfiguring the world order. Trade agreements are now more about regulating knowledge than trade. The “internet of things” is reshaping basic notions of property, ownership and control. States are increasingly outsourcing the regulation of online activity to global platforms. On an even more fundamental level, “dataism,” the belief that harnessing “big data” can solve almost any social problem is redefining how we define knowledge, truth and expertise.