Data colonialism and decolonial theories: articulations and proposals for the analysis of the appropriation of digital technologies from a feminist perspective

articulações e propostas a partir de uma perspectiva feminista

Abstract

Throughout this article we propose to address a set of notions articulated to the concepts data colonialism, digital coloniality and appropriation of digital technologies from decolonial feminist approaches. The position from which we propose to offer this conceptual and reflexive approach is based on a socio-historical dialectical view, which invites us to think about the articulations between appropriation processes (from a multidimensionality that will be explained later and the nuances that gender and race conditioning imprint on them) and the contributions that decolonial theories have developed so far. We are interested in reflecting on the appropriation of digital technologies and how it is linked to the idea of data colonialism. The concept of data colonialism serves as a critical tool to conceive of the appropriations of our lives converted into data and commodities by transnational communication and information technology companies. We also seek to think about the processes of appropriation of technologies that include a wide range of resistance and productivity practices by feminist organizations, but which encounter structural elements that nest cruelty and violence against non-white, non-heterosexual, non-cisnormatized female and feminized bodies.