October 8, 2021 ZINE: Beyond Big Tech’s Epistemic Imperialism Author(s): Jessica de Jesus de Pinho Pinhal Print zine imagery by Christopher Goggs In the latest provocation for The Cost of Convenience, Jessica de Jesus de Pinho Pinhal argues that the only sustainable and desirable futures must draw on theories of degrowth. The realm of ubiquitous computing has a singularity; it spreads everywhere but is nowhere to be seen. Hooked on our screens and the digital worlds they display, we overlook the devices themselves. We choose to ignore the resources, both human (data labellers, Uber Eats drivers) and material (rare metals, silicon), necessary to the magic at play. The digitalisation of the product and the fragmented globalisation of its production lead to the uncontrollable growth of Big Tech. I argue that the only sustainable and desirable futures must draw on theories of degrowth. But they are often limited to an economic, ecological, or post-colonial framework. I propose epistemology to frame the dichotomy between growth and degrowth within the well-known cultural, epistemological, and theological dialectic of universalism/particularism, objectivism/subjectivism, and transcendence/immanence. Big Tech’s epistemic imperialism is nothing else than a modern and technological continuation of the perilous project of Man: the domination of both Nature and the Other. Jessica de Jesus de Pinho Pinhal, Technische Universität Berlin Read the zine