Exercises: Power, Knowledge, and Data
These exercises progress from concept checks to challenging applications. Estimated completion time: 4-5 hours.
Difficulty Guide: - ⭐ Foundational (5-10 min each) - ⭐⭐ Intermediate (10-20 min each) - ⭐⭐⭐ Challenging (20-40 min each) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Advanced/Research (40+ min each)
Part A: Conceptual Understanding ⭐
Test your grasp of core concepts from Chapter 5.
A.1. Section 5.1.1 introduces Foucault's concept of power/knowledge (pouvoir/savoir). In your own words, explain why Foucault argued that power and knowledge are inseparable rather than merely related. Use one example from the chapter and one original example to illustrate your explanation.
A.2. Distinguish between sovereign power, disciplinary power, and biopower as described in Sections 5.1.1-5.1.3. For each form, identify one contemporary data system that primarily operates through that form of power and explain your reasoning.
A.3. Section 5.1.2 describes the panopticon as a model of disciplinary power. Explain why Foucault argued that the possibility of surveillance matters more than actual surveillance. How does Eli's grandmother's response to the lampposts illustrate this principle?
A.4. Define information asymmetry as presented in Section 5.2.1. Explain why the asymmetry between platforms and users is described as "structural" rather than accidental. What does this distinction imply about potential solutions?
A.5. Section 5.2.2 lists four reasons why transparency is "necessary but insufficient" for addressing information asymmetry. Summarize each reason in one sentence and rank them in order of which you consider most important to least important. Justify your ranking.
A.6. In your own words, explain the difference between testimonial injustice and hermeneutical injustice as described in Section 5.5. Provide one example of each that relates to data systems (you may use examples from the chapter or create your own).
A.7. Section 5.6 presents four dimensions of data justice: distributive, procedural, recognition, and epistemic. Explain how these four dimensions differ from a data protection framework that focuses on individual consent and privacy rights. Why do Taylor, Dencik, and Gurses argue that data protection alone is insufficient?
Part B: Applied Analysis ⭐⭐
Analyze scenarios, arguments, and real-world situations using concepts from Chapter 5.
B.1. Consider the following scenario:
A university deploys a "student success" analytics platform that uses data from the learning management system (login frequency, assignment submission times, discussion board participation), library access records, dining hall usage, and WiFi connection patterns to generate a "risk score" for each student. Students with high risk scores receive outreach from academic advisors. Students are not informed that the system exists.
Analyze this system using all three forms of Foucauldian power (sovereign, disciplinary, biopower). Which form is most prominent? How might students' behavior change if they learned the system existed?
B.2. Section 5.3.1 identifies three forms of corporate data power: market power, epistemic power, and labor power. Apply each of these categories to Amazon's operations. For each, provide a specific example and explain the information asymmetry involved.
B.3. Read the following argument carefully:
"Data colonialism is an irresponsible term. Historical colonialism involved genocide, forced labor, and the destruction of civilizations. Comparing that to someone voluntarily using a free social media platform trivializes the suffering of colonized peoples. Users can simply delete their accounts if they don't want their data collected."
Using Section 5.4, construct a response that acknowledges the critique's valid points while explaining why Couldry and Mejias might argue their framework remains useful. Your response should address at least three specific parallels (or disanalogies) between historical colonialism and data extraction.
B.4. Mira works in the university's Office of Institutional Research, where her office produces the data that shapes funding decisions (as Dr. Adeyemi points out in Section 5.1.1). Analyze Mira's position through the power/knowledge framework. In what ways does Mira exercise power? In what ways is she subject to it? Consider both her role as a data producer and her identity as a student.
B.5. Section 5.3.3 describes four forms of resistance: sousveillance, counter-data, data activism, and obfuscation. For each of the following situations, identify which form of resistance would be most appropriate and explain why:
- (a) A community discovers that its local police department has been using facial recognition technology at public protests without disclosure.
- (b) A city government publishes crime statistics that residents believe undercount crimes in wealthier neighborhoods.
- (c) An advocacy organization wants to challenge a proposed law that would expand government access to communications metadata.
- (d) A group of gig workers suspects that the platform's algorithm penalizes them for declining low-paying jobs, but the company refuses to disclose algorithmic details.
B.6. Section 5.2.2 presents a thought experiment about a perfectly transparent surveillance system. Return to this thought experiment and analyze it through the data justice framework (Section 5.6). How would each of the four dimensions of data justice evaluate this system? Does any single dimension capture the full ethical picture?
Part C: Real-World Application Challenges ⭐⭐-⭐⭐⭐
These exercises ask you to investigate your own data environment and apply power analysis to real situations.
C.1. ⭐⭐ Power Mapping Exercise. Choose one digital service you use daily (social media platform, email provider, streaming service, search engine, or ride-hailing app). Create a power map that identifies: (a) what knowledge the service has about you, (b) what knowledge you have about the service's operations, (c) the specific information asymmetries, and (d) what forms of power (sovereign, disciplinary, biopower) operate in the relationship. Present your analysis in a table or diagram, followed by a one-paragraph reflection.
C.2. ⭐⭐ Panopticon Audit. For one full day, keep a log of every moment you modify your behavior because you believe (or suspect) you are being observed or recorded. Include digital contexts (posting on social media, browsing the web, using work systems) and physical ones (walking past cameras, entering stores, being in public spaces). At the end of the day, review your log and write a one-page analysis: How many of these moments involved actual surveillance versus the possibility of surveillance? What does this tell you about disciplinary power in your daily life?
C.3. ⭐⭐⭐ Counter-Data Project. Identify one claim or dataset produced by an institution that affects your community (a university report, a city government statistic, a corporate transparency report, etc.). Investigate the methodology: What was measured? What was excluded? Whose definitions were used? Write a two-page analysis that identifies the power/knowledge dynamics embedded in the data and proposes what a counter-data effort would need to collect and why.
C.4. ⭐⭐⭐ Epistemic Injustice Identification. Research a case where a community raised concerns about a data system and was initially dismissed. (Examples might include: communities raising concerns about predictive policing, gig workers challenging algorithmic management, or patients questioning health risk algorithms.) Identify: (a) whether the dismissal constituted testimonial injustice, hermeneutical injustice, or both, (b) what conceptual vocabulary eventually helped the community articulate its concerns, and (c) what changed — or did not change — once the concerns were recognized. Write a 500-word analysis.
Part D: Synthesis & Critical Thinking ⭐⭐⭐
These questions require you to integrate multiple concepts from Chapter 5 and think beyond the material presented.
D.1. Section 5.3.3 quotes Foucault: "where there is power, there is resistance." But is resistance always possible in practice? Consider a situation where someone depends on a data system for essential services — healthcare, employment, social connection, civic participation — and cannot opt out without significant harm. Does the Foucauldian framework adequately account for situations where the cost of resistance is prohibitively high? Write a two-paragraph analysis that draws on at least two concepts from the chapter (e.g., biopower, information asymmetry, the transparency paradox, data colonialism).
D.2. The chapter presents multiple theoretical frameworks: Foucault's power/knowledge, information asymmetry (from economics), data colonialism (Couldry & Mejias), epistemic injustice (Fricker), and data justice (Taylor, Dencik, Gurses). Compare any two of these frameworks. What does each framework illuminate that the other does not? Where do they overlap? Is one more useful than the other for analyzing a specific problem, or are they complementary? Support your comparison with a concrete example.
D.3. Consider the relationship between biopower and data colonialism. Couldry and Mejias argue that platforms appropriate "human life itself" through data. Foucault argues that biopower governs populations through statistical knowledge. Write a synthesis that explores: Are these two frameworks describing the same phenomenon from different angles, or are they making fundamentally different claims? Use the VitraMed example (population health analytics) to test your argument.
D.4. Dr. Adeyemi tells Mira that the categories her office uses to produce data "shape" the university, not just describe it. This is a constructivist claim — that data categories do not merely represent reality but actively construct it. Evaluate this claim. Is it true of all data, or only some data? Consider the following cases: (a) a thermometer reading, (b) a credit score, (c) a racial classification on a census form, (d) a "risk score" generated by a predictive policing algorithm. For which of these cases does the constructivist claim hold most strongly, and why?
Part E: Research & Extension ⭐⭐⭐⭐
These are open-ended projects for students seeking deeper engagement. Each requires independent research beyond the textbook.
E.1. Foucault and Digital Governance: A Research Essay. Section 5.1 applies Foucault's concepts (developed in the 1970s-1980s) to contemporary digital systems. Some scholars argue that Foucault's framework is insufficient for analyzing power in the age of big data, algorithmic governance, and platform capitalism. Research this debate by reading at least two of the following: David Lyon's Surveillance Studies: An Overview (2007), Gilles Deleuze's "Postscript on the Societies of Control" (1992), or Antoinette Rouvroy's work on "algorithmic governmentality." Write a 1,500-word essay that addresses: (a) what Foucault's framework captures well about digital power, (b) what it misses, and (c) what modifications or extensions might be needed. Use at least four sources beyond this textbook.
E.2. Data Colonialism in Practice: A Case Study. Research one instance where a technology company from the United States or China has deployed data-extractive systems in the Global South (possibilities include: Sidewalk Labs' smart city proposals, Facebook Free Basics in Africa or South Asia, Chinese surveillance technology exports, or Google's health data initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa). Write a 1,200-word case study analyzing: (a) what data is extracted and by whom, (b) how the relationship maps onto Couldry and Mejias's framework, (c) what the critiques of the data colonialism framing would say about this case, and (d) how local communities or governments have responded.
E.3. Obfuscation Ethics: A Structured Debate. Section 5.3.3 introduces the ethical debate around obfuscation (Brunton and Nissenbaum, 2015). Research three real-world obfuscation practices (e.g., TrackMeNot, AdNauseam, Tor usage, data poisoning against facial recognition, or GPS spoofing). For each, write a structured ethical analysis (300-400 words) that presents: (a) the obfuscation technique and its purpose, (b) the strongest argument in its favor, (c) the strongest argument against it, and (d) your own assessment. Conclude with a 500-word synthesis: Can a general ethical principle for obfuscation be formulated, or does the justification depend entirely on context?
E.4. Epistemic Justice and Algorithmic Systems: An Interview Project. Section 5.5 introduces epistemic injustice and its relevance to data governance. Interview two to three people (friends, family, coworkers, or community members) about their experiences with algorithmic systems (content recommendations, credit scoring, hiring algorithms, predictive policing, insurance pricing, or similar). Ask: Do they feel the system understands their situation? Have they ever tried to contest a decision and felt unheard? Do they have the vocabulary to describe what bothers them? Write a 1,000-word report that connects their experiences to Fricker's concepts of testimonial and hermeneutical injustice. (Follow your institution's ethical guidelines for human subjects research.)
Solutions
Selected solutions are available in appendices/answers-to-selected.md.