Against smartness: the sociological and institutional critique of smart society

Authors: Melissa Sessa

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the critique of smartness. Scholarly dicta over the years have developed lines of critique of smartness that can be summarised in the strands presented in this paper: technological, institutional, and social. Leaving the technological critique in the background, the work presented here focuses on the institutional and social critiques. The aim is thus to draw attention to how the concept of smartness, although seen by many as a panacea for all ills, is not free from criticism. The uncritical assumption of this conceptual phenomenon runs the risk of disconnecting the concept of a smart society from society itself.

Keywords: Smart society, critique, smartness

DOI:

Notes on contributors

MELISSA SESSA, lavora presso l’Istituto di Ricerca per la Protezione Idrogeologica (IRPI) del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche ed è una docente a contratto di Sociologia del turismo presso l’Università degli Studi Internazionali di Roma.
E-mail: melissa.sessa@cnr.it