Work

The technopolitics of database interoperability

Year: 2026

Type: editorial

Abstract: We need to talk about the technopolitics of database interoperability. To date, databases remain crucial to datafied forms of public security, migration and border control. How databases are to speak to each other has cascading effects on the relation between power and knowledge, and upon how digital data, rights and subjectivities meet. This is especially the case in domains at the core of statecraft, where database interoperability affects both states' authority and individuals' freedom and well-being. In conversation with the contributions to this Special Theme, this Editorial suggests exploring three technopolitical dimensions that offer promising insights. That is, the relation between interoperability and political power; the sites where the shaping of interoperability takes place; and the contested practices accompanying interoperability's implementation. Ultimately, interoperability emerges as characterized by a continuous tension between simplification and multiplication, whose better understanding will allow us to grasp the emergence of complex socio-technical, legal and political configurations.

Source: Big Data & Society

DOI: 10.1177/20539517261451457

Authors: Rocco Bellanova, Jan-Hendrik Passoth, Silvan Pollozek

Institutions: Vrije Universiteit Brussel, European University Viadrina

Language: English

Topic: Digitalization, Law, and Regulation

Subfield: Law

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,000