Data and Society: A critical introduction

Discussions on processes that span algorithms, servers, users and institutions are rarely coherent and accessible, while it’s essential in today’s digital society to have a critical understanding of data. The recently published Data and Society: A critical introduction, by Prof Dr Anne Beaulieu (University of Groningen - Campus Fryslân) and Prof ​​Dr Sabina Leonelli (University of Exeter - UK), connects data as a highly technological practice to broad social questions of evidence, innovation and knowledge.

A critical introduction

Aiming to better understand how data practices have come to underpin all aspects of human life and what this means for those directly involved in handling data, the book presents a set of key concepts to assess how data shape science, policy and politics, including how data are turned into metrics that are used to make decisions. It fosters insight into the deep interrelations between technical, social and ethical aspects of data work, grounded in examples spanning genetics, sport and digital innovation.

In Global Cast (Podcast)

Data and Society: A Critical Introduction is discussed in Campus Fryslan's Global Cast , where Anne Beaulieu and Sabina Leonelli give a short introduction on the topic and the reason why they wrote this book.

About Anne Beaulieu

Anne Beaulieu is professor of Knowledge Infrastructures and Director of the Data Research Centre, University of Groningen (NL). She holds the Aletta Jacobs Chair of Knowledge Infrastructures for Sustainability at Campus Fryslân and developed the minor programme Data Wise: Data Science in Society with Gert Stulp. Her work focuses on complexity and transition in knowledge infrastructures.