Big Data et quantification de soi : La gouvernementalité algorithmique dans le monde numériquement administré

This article aims to discuss, from a critical theory perspective, the apparent paradox between the ability to monitor and control made possible by Big Data and the belief in the latter’s emancipatory potential. The goal is to assess to what extent the data, tools and methods characteristic of Big Data constitute self-regulation processes that are similar to a dynamics of governance and surveillance. We will analyze this phenomenon on the basis of two concepts inherited from the critical tradition in social science, namely that of the administered world as formulated by the Frankfurt School theorists, and that of governmentality as developed by Michel Foucault.