Beyond Techno-Feudalism - by Durand (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The tech giants of Silicon Valley have become modern-day feudal lords. They reign over a land of platforms which have become an inextricable part of our everyday lives, and on which millions of us now depend for our livelihoods. Through their control of what has become the most valuable commodity in the digital age - users' data - the tech giants have amassed enormous wealth and power. And the power they wield is no longer just economic: it is political, too. The tech billionaires have become both the idols and the main backers of the far right.

What can be done in the face of the growing power of the tech giants who are today colonizing statehood? Unlike those who believe that digital technologies are inescapably marred by their association with capitalism, Durand argues that these technologies can be redeployed for the purposes of building an emancipated society and tackling the ecological crisis - that is, for advancing the project of cyber-ecosocialism.

Review Quotes

"Cedric Durand makes a powerful case for cyber-ecosocialism: equality and emancipation with ecological planning and democratic control of digital infrastructures. A must-read!"
Thomas Piketty

"Durand builds his technofeudalism from Marx, not headlines -- and lands somewhere brutally familiar: rent is eclipsing profit, centrally-planned platforms are superseding markets, tribute is replacing trade and Big Tech's cloudalists are increasingly controlling our minds' very wiring. Durand's cyber-ecosocialist response is bracing, necessary, and overdue."
Yanis Varoufakis

About the Author

Cédric Durand is Professor of Political Economy at the University of Geneva, and a member of the Centre d'économie Paris Nord.