Institutional Exclusion after the Introduction of Big Data Systems in India

The means of identification of the population determine the institutional practice. The census in India led to the institution of the caste-system in order for the British to better manage the population. Under the Foucauldian governmentality paradigm, this thesis argues that the modern practices used by the government for identifying the population are a continuation of the earlier census method of identification. The extrapolation of characteristics to determine the structure of Indian society was a system that relayed information from the population back to the government through the census. Segregation or exclusion of people who fell outside of the proposed structure presented in the census were homogenised within castes. Contemporary systems for the population to relay information to the government may move beyond the earlier traits of structure. However, as the government becomes increasingly dependent on technology to identify and gain insight into the issues facing the...Show moreThe means of identification of the population determine the institutional practice. The census in India led to the institution of the caste-system in order for the British to better manage the population. Under the Foucauldian governmentality paradigm, this thesis argues that the modern practices used by the government for identifying the population are a continuation of the earlier census method of identification. The extrapolation of characteristics to determine the structure of Indian society was a system that relayed information from the population back to the government through the census. Segregation or exclusion of people who fell outside of the proposed structure presented in the census were homogenised within castes. Contemporary systems for the population to relay information to the government may move beyond the earlier traits of structure. However, as the government becomes increasingly dependent on technology to identify and gain insight into the issues facing the population, the role of technology in providing the government with data becomes an issue. Essentially, the government is in a process of increasing automation in institutions in order to better assess the population. It is capable of putting in place the systems that register the issues facing the population. Yet, as the institutions begin to provide an assessment of the data to the government in order for them to act. Those people within the population who are not registered in- or providing relevant data to – institutions therefore fall outside of the assessment of the government. As they do remain part of the population this thesis will argue that the big data systems (1) are dependent on the means that the government to collects data, (2) do not include the whole population and thus policy recommendations, based on big data assessment, require the government to extrapolate the perceived issues to the whole of the population, (3) the welfare of the population as the end-goal of the government will see a changing role in citizenship when the policy of the government becomes increasingly determined by the information the citizen provides.Show less

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Institutional Exclusion after the Introduction of Big Data Systems in India