‘Power on’: Googlecracy, privatisation and the standardisation of sources

Abstract

The paper aims to contribute to the sociological analysis of power through the study of the structuration and retrieval of information on the internet. The main argument of the paper is that, paradoxically, in an age when the availability of information has increased exponentially, there is a risk that diversity in the use of sources for the construction of knowledge becomes more restricted than in the past and that information search moves towards greater objectification and centralisation. Knowledge management systems increasingly shape the ways in which we think about the questions we ask and how we try to answer them, which raises fundamental and largely neglected questions for education policy. The paper illustrates these trends with particular reference to the use of Google and Google Scholar.

From governing through data to governmentality through data: Artefacts, strategies and the digital turn

“…Thus, the main challenge is no longer data production, but data retrieval and selection (production of relevant data), management, use and display. This is why search engines should become more central in educational debates (Souto-Otero and Beneito-Montagut, 2013).…”

“…This section reviews the kinds of artefacts introduced in the governmentality of education by various social agents. The purpose of this section is not to analyse those artefacts in detail (see Souto-Otero and Beneito-Montagut, 2013; Williamson, 2015b) or provide a comprehensive list of those available. Instead, the aim is to provide an illustration of the kinds of technologies that are shaping education data production and consumption across the social body.…”

“…Private companies have acquired a central role in the sorting out and retrieving of these data. Souto-Otero and Beneito-Montagut (2013) argue that there is a risk that widespread use of search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask, Aol, or engines targeted to the search of academic literature such as Google Scholar, Scirus or Scopus, leads to a narrowing of the range of sources employed in the construction of knowledge. There is now a lively debate in the UK as to whether access to Google should be allowed in examinations (BBC, 2015).…”

“…Much of the literature on government through data, digital technologies and education documents processes of explicit alignment by educational providers and local authorities (Grek, 2009; Ozga, 2009). Similarly, Souto-Otero and Beneito-Montagut (2013) document a widespread implicit alignment with the principles and ontologies proposed by Google’s algorithm. Most individuals do not reflect upon the validity of the propositions of the algorithm – for example, more popular sources deserve greater attention.…”

Whatever happened to the ‘social’ science in Social Science & Medicine? On golden anniversaries and gold standards

“…Now, increasingly rare is the scholar who browses through an online journal 'issue' -itself arguably an anachronistic holdover from the print era, especially now that a number of journals have ceased print publication. Instead, many of us find journal articles via online search engines such as Google Scholar (Jamali & Asadi 2010;Souto-Otero & Beneito-Montagut 2013), and other mediated sources such as listservs, blogs and, increasingly, social media feeds.…”