Cybernetic Census and The Politics of Numbers in Digital India - A Talk by Srinivas Kodali

Srinivas Kodali takes us through how modern-day digital governance treats humans as numbers with the mathematical science of cybernetics, which is used to reshape the republic.

The Census has been a project of control for colonial actors in India, these colonial practices were modified to help achieve India's development goals under PC Mahalnobis. Mahalnobis, as the architect of the modern census in India, evolved practices that have been exported from India to the rest of the world. Present-day census applications in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have been heavily relying on cybernetics to create 360-degree profiles of citizens. This form of real-time cybernetic census will be the future in Digital India. The talk will look into the discontents of numbers and how modern-day digital governance treats humans as numbers with the mathematical science of cybernetics, which is being used to reshape the republic. It will touch on Digital Governance, Representation, Surveillance, Control, and Freedoms in Digital Societies.

This event is part of Lamakaan’s 14th Annual Celebrations!

ALL ARE WELCOME!