| Abstract |
Several technocentric discourses promote the algorithms, massive data and technological innovations of the Fourth Industrial Revolution as the preferred means of accelerating the ecological transition. In this article, we analyze two possible uses of algorithmic technologies: green applications on mobile devices that aim to promote responsible consumption, and the Internet of Things as a smart infrastructure to facilitate the transition to renewable energy and to improve the productivity of production, transport and distribution systems. We present two main limitations of these proposals: while green applications promote self-quantification, consumerism and a neoliberal subjectivation of the ecological crisis, the individual is called upon to constantly improve his environmental performance, the paradigm of the new industrial revolution presented by Jeremy Rifkin based on a productive vision that runs up against the problem of the rebound effect, the drastic increase in energy consumption, and extractivism. In conclusion, we briefly suggest that a third scenario, that of digital eco-socialism, could envisage an overcoming of capitalism through the socialization of algorithmic infrastructures, democratic planning of the economy, a redefinition of wealth and self-limitation of needs. |
