Aggregating like a state: Discriminatory data practices of legislated ghettoization in Denmark

Book chapter (in press) in DIGITAL STATES IN PRACTICE edited by Perriam, Jessamy and Kjær, Kathrine Meldgaard.
 
In this chapter we explore the relationship between digitalization and social justice through the case of the ghetto law by focusing on the data practices that have enabled the ghetto law and the discriminatory practices it legitimizes. We aim to show that the eviction of residents and the material changes to the social housing landscape are made politically possible through aggregates of census data and statistics.

We bring forward the proposition that the digital component of the digital state is not only to be found in apparent digital practices such as making non-digital services digital or in attempts to harness the power of big data. The digital state, we demonstrate, is also active in spaces that, such as ‘the ghetto law’ are not intentionally digital. We label these aspects of the digital state’s practices ‘veiled digitalisation’ and argue that there is a pertinent need to attend to how veiled digitalisation creates conditions for data injustices.

Laura Na Blankholm, Katja Sara Pape de Neergaard, Caroline Anna Salling,  Anne-Sofie Lautrup Sørensen, ITU.
2023