The Age of Surveillance Capitalism cover art

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism

The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism

By: Shoshana Zuboff
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £25.71

Buy Now for £25.71

About this listen

 An exposé of the unprecedented form of power called “surveillance capitalism,” and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control our behavior

“Groundbreaking, magisterial, alarming.” – Financial Times

The heady optimism of the Internet’s early days has turned dark. Surveillance capitalism has deepened inequality, sown societal chaos, and undermined democracy.

The fight for a human future has never been more urgent. Shoshana Zuboff argues that we still have the power to decide what kind of world we want to live in: Will we allow surveillance capitalism to wrap us in its iron cage as it enriches the few and subjugates the many? Or will we demand the rights and laws that place this rogue power under the democratic rule of law? Only democracy can ensure that the vast new capabilities of the digital era are harnessed to the advancement of humanity. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism is a deeply original, exquisitely reasoned, and spell binding examination of our emerging information civilization and the life and death choices we face. Computer Science Consumer Behavior & Market Research History & Culture Machine Theory & Artificial Intelligence Marketing & Sales Social Sciences Technology & Society Technology Capitalism Socialism Thought-Provoking Inspiring Disaster Capitalism Social Capital

Critic reviews

An International Bestseller

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year

A Financial Times Best Book of the Year

A Sunday Times (UK) Best Business Book of the Year

Selected by Barack Obama, Zadie Smith (in the Wall Street Journal), Jia Tolentino (in the
New Yorker), Elif Shafak (in the Guardian), and Ana Botin (in Bloomberg) as one of the
best books of 2019

Finalist for the Financial Times/McKinsey Best Book of the Year Award
“If a book’s importance is gauged by how effectively it describes the world we’re in, and how much potential it has to change said world, then in my view it’s easily the most important book to be published this century... Zuboff is concerned with the largest act of capitalist colonisation ever attempted, but the colonisation is of our minds, our behaviour, our free will, our very selves. Yet it’s not an anti‑tech book. It’s anti unregulated capitalism, red in tooth and claw. It’s really this generation’s Das Kapital.”—Zadie Smith
“Extraordinarily intelligent... Absorbing Zuboff’s methodical determination, the way she pieces together sundry examples into this comprehensive work of scholarship and synthesis, requires patience, but the rewards are considerable ‑ a heightened sense of awareness, and a deeper appreciation of what’s at stake. A business model that seeks growth by cataloging our ‘every move, emotion, utterance and desire’ is too radical to be taken for granted. As Zuboff repeatedly says near the end of the book, ‘It is not O.K.’”—Jennifer Szalai, New York Times
“The rare volume that puts a name on a problem just as it becomes critical... This book’s major contribution is to give a name to what’s happening, to put it in cultural and historical perspective, and to ask us to pause long enough to think about the future and how it might be different from today.”—Frank Rose, Wall Street Journal
“Many adjectives could be used to describe Shoshana Zuboff’s latest book: groundbreaking, magisterial, alarming, alarmist, preposterous. One will do: unmissable... As we grope around in the darkness trying to grasp the contours of our digital era, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism shines a searing light on how this latest revolution is transforming our economy, politics, society ‑ and lives.”—John Thornhill, Financial Times
“One of the most important criticisms of the power of Big Tech.”—Rana Foroohar, Financial Times
All stars
Most relevant
Thank you, Shoshana Zuboff, for drawing my attention to the shadow text that is written based on our activities in the age of boundless service - and equally boundless surveillance.

A truly eye-opening book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Amazingly well researched and very compelling. Brutal and dark in parts but not without hope.

Incredible

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book is long and did made me a bit tired at times, but it is structured well to explain the current state of things that are not clear at first glance.
This book pushed me to read and search for many more topics of surveillance capitalism.

Important read/listen to anyone want to be informed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Gripping. I am strongly recommending this book to everyone I can think of.
Essential reading to understand the world we live in, this should be read by every politician, entrepreneur and digital native and be in every schoolroom.

Terrifying & fascinating, a *must* read for C21st

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book gives a detailed history of the technologies which are now an integral part of society. The predictions of a dystopian future put forth present a call for revolutionary action before the human condition is distilled into nothing more than data.

informative and predictive.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews