Power in numbers/Power and numbers: Gentle data activism as strategic collaboration

Abstract

This short piece responds to a call to unpack the notion of gentle geographies conceptually and methodologically. This response considers gentleness in the context of ‘data activism,’ which describes actions to resist the harmful effects of surveillance by corporate and state actors, as well as those that harness the potential of data to achieve grassroots social and political goals. Regarding the latter form, this piece considers the potential of an explicitly gentle form of data activism in which collaboration with policy actors is a central strategy, which contrasts it with a longer history of oppositional, or even ‘militant’ forms of data activism. Gentleness is characterised here as a careful, consciously moderated, and above all, strategic mode of action; it can be deployed to advance specific activist goals and to exploit the growing allure of data in urban planning and governance circles. Through examples from Vancouver, Canada and Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa, and by engaging with recent work on the connections between data and action, gentle data activism is put forward as a mode of action that merges power in numbers (in the sense of collaboration and diverse perspectives, but not in the sense of data as capable of action on its own) with power and numbers (an understanding of data's actionability as being contingent on a wider set of forces). This in/and distinction foregrounds a need for those engaged in data activism to carefully consider whether their actions are intended to achieve outcomes that are instrumental (achieving tangible changes) and/or normative (challenging power asymmetries). Gentle modes of action may be highly appropriate for goals such as influencing policies that affect marginalised communities, but gentleness may not be suitable for challenging the injustices at the root of marginalisation.

This piece engages with the notion of gentleness in the context of data activism, considering the potential of this concept in light of efforts to advance grassroots social and political goals through data. The potential for gentle data activism – conceptualised here as careful, moderated, and above all strategic modes of action – is unpacked through examples of grassroots data practices in Canada and South Africa. Drawing on recent work on data and action, this paper argues that gentle modes of action may be highly appropriate when instrumental outcomes are the goals of data activism, but that it may not be suitable for challenging the injustices at the root of marginalisation.