Section: New Results

The economy of intermediation and the anthropocene

Better understanding the economy, in a broad sense, of intermediation as it is performed by online platforms, is one of the major goals of the team. The paper [12] published in 1024, introduces the topics of algorihtmic intermediation and its social impact to a large audience.

Two contemporary revolutions are shaking the world. On one side, the digital revolution, which seems to introduce to a new economic era, allowing more sharing, and according to some authors the end of capitalism. On the other hand, the challenges of the preservation of our planet, and the limitation of resources that we are now facing. Clearly, there is an expectation that digital means will help face the challenges of the planet. In [14] , we go one step further and analyse the possible relationship between the two phenomena, by drawing comparisons with biology where stress on ressources can lead to a horizontalisation of the species, much like what happens with digital technologies and intermediation platforms.

This later work is made in the framework of the study of the anthropocene, for which we are involved in the organisation of a workshop in the framework program of the HKW in Berlin on the technosphere

• URL: http://www.hkw.de/en/programm/projekte/2015/curriculum_campus_technosphere/campus_the_technosphere_issue.php