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The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
- The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power
- Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella
- Length: 24 hrs and 16 mins
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The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
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Summary
The challenges to humanity posed by the digital future, the first detailed examination of the unprecedented form of power called "surveillance capitalism", and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control our behavior.
In this masterwork of original thinking and research, Shoshana Zuboff provides startling insights into the phenomenon that she has named surveillance capitalism. The stakes could not be higher: a global architecture of behavior modification threatens human nature in the 21st century just as industrial capitalism disfigured the natural world in the 20th. Zuboff vividly brings to life the consequences as surveillance capitalism advances from Silicon Valley into every economic sector. Vast wealth and power are accumulated in ominous new "behavioral futures markets", where predictions about our behavior are bought and sold, and the production of goods and services is subordinated to a new "means of behavioral modification". The threat has shifted from a totalitarian Big Brother state to a ubiquitous digital architecture: a "Big Other" operating in the interests of surveillance capital. Here is the crucible of an unprecedented form of power marked by extreme concentrations of knowledge and free from democratic oversight. Zuboff's comprehensive and moving analysis lays bare the threats to 21st-century society: a controlled "hive" of total connection that seduces with promises of total certainty for maximum profit—at the expense of democracy, freedom, and our human future. With little resistance from law or society, surveillance capitalism is on the verge of dominating the social order and shaping the digital future—if we let it.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Critic reviews
"I will make a guarantee: Assuming we survive to tell the tale, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism has a high probability of joining the likes Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations and Max Weber's Economy and Society as defining social-economics texts of modern times. It is not a 'quick read'; it is to be savored and re-read and discussed with colleagues and friends. No zippy one-liners from me, except to almost literally beg you to read/ingest this book." (Tom Peters, coauthor of In Search of Excellence)
"My mind is blown on every page by the depth of Shoshana's research, the breadth of her knowledge, the rigor of her intellect, and finally by the power of her arguments. I'm not sure we can end the age of surveillance capitalism without her help, and that's why I believe this is the most important book of our time." (Doc Searls, author of The Intention Economy, editor in chief, Linux Journal)
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What listeners say about The Age of Surveillance Capitalism
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 01-11-19
Incredible
Amazingly well researched and very compelling. Brutal and dark in parts but not without hope.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 15-07-19
I was Dared to Write this Review
This book was a seminal text in a devised theatre piece we produced. I found it to be riveting and full of choice catchphrases such as “Who knows, who decides, who decides who decides” and featuring delightful excerpts from some Chinese sonnets or something. We all loved it
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 25-04-23
Disturbing but timely
Removes the veil of the "free" services social media and internet search firms provide, explaining what the true cost to individuals and society is for using them. Provocative and educational in equal measure.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Will
- 20-07-20
Das Kapital for the digital age
An expansive and yet compelling work of analysis, calling to attention the distinctions of surveillance capitalism and how its emergence builds upon traditional capitalism and projects predatory and self-authorising power as a means of measuring and exploiting every action taken in today's inescapably connected world. Zuboff's writing cites many examples from the mouths of the architects of surveillance capitalism themselves, uncloaking their offerings of personalisation and relevance as a means to ever increasing surveillance of ourselves. Zuboff helps dispel the inevitability of the systems of monitoring and behavioural modification that assert themselves as logical progressions of innovation and development. A revelatory and yet worrying look at the world of systems that have grown around us unseen and unaccountably intervening in our lives from daily chores to our democracy.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Michael Falk
- 29-10-23
Great story, good analysis
There are two great things about this book: it tells a compelling story, and makes a thrilling moral point. Where it lacks is in its analysis. Zuboff’s aim is mainly to stoke moral outrage, and she does not present a particularly sophisticated theory of politics or society. Her individualist ideology is not really suited to the task. Are middle class people really having their lives stolen by targeted advertising? The best part of her theoretical framework is her account of “instrumentarian power,” which she distinguishes from the ideological power of earlier periods. Here she is spot on, but she never presents facts to prove that Google and Facebook really wield much actual power over our lives. I would recommend this book as a starting point to get you engaged in the topic, but the hard work of determining exactly how Google and Facebook are reshaping society will happen elsewhere.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Andrew
- 30-06-19
Fascinating and terrifying, but robotic performance and very long.
Very thorough, and thought provoking, it changed my view of how and why we use the internet. It uses complex language at times, I felt I couldn’t be distracted while listening to it. Performance is very dry.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- J. Flood
- 19-01-20
Mixed bag
Some great ideas and useful information but the book is twice as long as it has to be. Philosophical excuses are not rewarding.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- AS
- 12-03-21
Complex Made Topic
The author makes this topic more complex than it needs to be. Uses too much academic language to be able to follow easily. Its is a very dry topic and not easy to follow.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Phil Winston
- 04-05-19
High Fluff Factor
I'd say the book would be 2 hours long if it just said what it was trying to say, but 3-4 methaphors per sentence to describe one thing is apparently required here, so it gets really annoying to listen to.
I struggled through the first 8 hours of this before surrendering.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lucy P
- 02-07-19
Very important, but slightly long winded
This is an exceptionally important book covering how our online and real world freedoms and privacy are being taken without our explicit knowledge with every t&c agreement we click OK to.
However, this book moves off topic and becomes long winded, making lengthy and slightly out of context comparisons with 20th century futuristic literature and dictatorships. I think that sticking to the shocking relevant current facts is powerful enough. Well worth listening to.
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