Mistrust Issues
How Technology Discourses Quantify, Extract and Legitimize Inequalities
By Garfield Benjamin
Published
Sep 15, 2023Page count
186 pagesISBN
978-1529230871Dimensions
203 x 127 mmImprint
Bristol University PressPublished
Sep 15, 2023Page count
186 pagesISBN
978-1529230888Dimensions
203 x 127 mmImprint
Bristol University PressPublished
Sep 15, 2023Page count
186 pagesISBN
978-1529230888Dimensions
203 x 127 mmImprint
Bristol University Press
Mistrust Issues
We are often expected to trust technologies, and how they are used, even if we have good reason not to. There is no room to mistrust.
Exploring relations between trust and mistrust in the context of data, AI and technology at large, this book defines a process of ‘trustification’ used by governments, corporations, researchers and the media to legitimize exploitation and increase inequalities.
Aimed at social scientists, computer scientists and public policy, the book aptly reveals how trust is operationalized and converted into a metric in order to extract legitimacy from populations and support the furthering of technology to manage society.
"Where the world is experienced through the distance of mediation, a sensitivity toward trust becomes even more acute. Dealing with the intricate specifics of its contemporary form, this book manages to grapple with and clarify what trust means today and the power that it possess. It will no doubt be of use to anyone with an interest in communication or in understanding how the system that supports social interactions is justified." David Beer, University of York
"In this compelling book Benjamin unpacks the politics of trust and how it is used and abused by technology companies to legitimize their practices. Through the concept of trustification, Benjamin shows how trust is extracted from people to control society." Elinor Carmi, City, University of London
Garfield Benjamin is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Solent University.
1. Introduction: Trust Issues
2. Trustification: Extracting Legitimacy
3. State: Measuring Authority
4. Corporate: Managing Risk
5. Research: Setting Terms
6. Media: Telling Stories
7. Case Study: COVID-19 Tracing Apps
8. Case Study: Tech for Good
9. Case Study: Trusting Faces
10. Conclusion: False Trade-Offs
