SURVEILLANCE CAPITALISM AND IT’S LITERARY REPRESENTATION: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF DAVE EGGERS’ THE CIRCLE

Abstract

This paper examines The Circle (2013) by Dave Eggers through the lens of Shoshana Zuboff’s concept of surveillance capitalism. It is a new economic system where personal data is extracted and monetized to influence consumer behavior and control human actions. The novel features the commodification of privacy by software giants, including the fictionalized Circle, which conveys how the tech firms use statistical and marketing tools in order to influence personal choices, as well as crowd behavior. The paper investigates the behavioral surplus that is data beyond service optimisation through the character of Mae Holland that helps to predict and alter upcoming actions. The novel is also concerned with the intangible forms of power that have been created in surveillance capitalism, the notion of instrumentarian power in the novel shows how data driven systems control decision making without the awareness of the individual. As Mae grows closer to the system The Circle has created, the control they exert on her thoughts has become less obvious; Mae slowly loses her sense of individuality as she turns into the manipulated behavior pursued by the algorithms created at the company. The paper also explores the dilution of privacy and political consequences of surveillance capitalism where personal data has found its way into politics where opinions and democracy are manipulated by the management of these data. By comparing The Circle to Zuboff, the paper identifies the ethical impact of surveillance capitalism and how it threatens to undermine the personal freedom and autonomy as well as the integrity of democracy in the era of the internet.