Zemiology in the Age of Surveillance Capitalism: toward an understanding of the Ultra-Fast Fashion industry

Elias, Jessica (2024) Zemiology in the Age of Surveillance Capitalism: toward an understanding of the Ultra-Fast Fashion industry. In: British Criminology Conference 2023: Sustaining Futures: Remaking Criminology in an age of Global Injustice, 27 June 2023 - 30 June 2023, University of Central Lancashire, United Kingdom.

Preview

Published Version Available under License In Copyright. Download (309kB) | Preview

Abstract

This paper addresses the need for zemiology to modernise through the recognition of deeper levels of harm being inflicted through surveillance capitalism (Zuboff, 2019). Emphasising a needs-based approach to zemiology (Pemberton, 2016) highlights the existential threat being faced through the utilisation of surveillance mechanisms and the normalization of their presence in our lives. The right to our identities and our autonomy must be defended – and for this to be possible, studies of power and harm must develop. This draws upon a case study of ultra-fast fashion to provide an anchor point through which new harms can be explored, bringing criminological awareness to an exceptionally harmful industry at the forefront of globalisation. Through this, the preliminary theoretical findings from a doctoral study interrogating the intersection between technological development and harm production are shared, culminating in an invitation to a unique theoretical orientation and emerging field of study: Digital Zemiology.