ABSTRACT

A post-human “transformation thesis” has emerged which posits that global politics is being radically altered by digital technologies and datafication. There is a polemical tendency to generalise about macro-level revolutions in both the techniques of governance and knowledge production across different political spheres, ranging from international security to development, humanitarianism and human rights. By instead applying a meso-level lens on global politics, this article cautions against excessive generalisations about epistemic transformations. It does so by emphasising the ways in which technological changes are mediated through field-specific struggles. This point is illustrated by demonstrating the absence of a radical data revolution within the field of global human rights advocacy. Through a sociological analysis of leading human rights NGOs and their epistemic cultures, it shows how that the field's humanistic sub-culture limits the adoption of novel digital- and data-centric practices.

摘要

一个后人类的“转型论题”已经出现，它假设全球政治正在被数字技术和数据化彻底改变。在从国际安全到发展、人道主义和人权等不同政治领域的治理技术和知识生产方面，普遍存在一种争论性的趋势。通过对全球政治应用一个中观层面的视角，本文告诫不要对认知转换进行过度概括。它通过强调通过特定领域的斗争来调解技术变革的方式来做到这一点。这一点可以通过证明在全球人权倡导领域中缺乏激进的数据革命来说明。