Data Welfare State

Automation is a reality of the modern world, yet it is fraught with contradictions. On the surface it appears sleek, efficient and seamlessly integrated, and yet it is also changing, uncertain, troubling. This book delves into that frictional interface, exploring themes like welfare automation experiments, citizen resistance, and the invisible technology woven into our lives.

In this book you will encounter:

- An international perspective, with examples drawn from Germany, Sweden and Estonia
- Diverse viewpoints, from welfare professionals to citizens who rely on welfare services
- A bold vision and urgent call to action, advocating for the reorganization of the data welfare state

Fascinating and timely, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in data welfare.

Published in collaboration with the Data Justice Lab as part of the Data Justice Series (Editors: Lina Dencik, Arne Hintz, Joanna Redden and Emiliano Treré)

List of contents

Chapter 1: The Data Welfare State
Chapter 2: The Mundanization of Algorithmic Public Services
Chapter 3: Experiences of Data Welfare
Chapter 4: (Re-)Configuring Data Welfare
Conclusion: Crisis in the Welfare Question: Rethinking the Welfare State in the Age of Automation

About the author

Anne Kaun is Professor of Media and Communication Studies at Södertörn University, Stockholm Sweden and a Wallenberg Academy Fellow. The past years she has been studying the democratic implications of automated decision-making, artificial intelligence, and digitalization in the welfare sector. Previously she has engaged with projects concerning prisons and media infrastructures,  media trust during the pandemic as well as digital activism and memory culture. 

Product details

• Authors: Anne Kaun, Anne Masso Kaun, Kaun Anne, Anu Masso
• Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 14.04.2025
• EAN: 9781529667806
• ISBN: 978-1-5296-6780-6
• No. of pages: 136
• Series: Data Justice
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Politics, society, business > Society; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; Media Studies, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Civics & Citizenship, Public Administration, Media studies: internet, digital media and society, Population & demography, Welfare and benefit systems, Social discrimination and social justice, For graduate / post-graduate and equivalents