Critical Theory in the Age of Big Data

This essay discusses the rise of neoliberalism and globalization and its effects on the reconstruction of critical theory. This consideration will be about how the desire for critical theory, or the desiring critique, could intervene in the cognitive or surveillance capitalism phase based on big data technology. For this purpose, I will clarify the fact that the revival of critical theory should be the reconsideration of French philosophy (or French theory) and its political foundation since the 1950s. The vital link between critical theory and political conjunctures is revealed in the CIA’s report on French philosophy in the 1980s. The failure of radical French philosophy led to the decline of intellectuals and the reification of critical theory. I will relate this situation to the advent of cognitive or surveillance capitalism and its changed mode of accumulation. My conclusion will focus on the role of critical theory in understanding the function of big data capitalism and imposing its political implication on the celebration of technological advances.