The Post-Choice Society: Algorithmic Prediction and the Decentring of Choice

Choice has played a key role in late-modern economy, society, culture and politics, but recently predictive algorithms are decentring choice and replacing many of its instantiations, offering an alternative way to match individuals with information, cultural goods, and consumer products – and to gov...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Theory, culture & society Vol. 42; no. 4; pp. 3 - 22
Main Author: Schwarz, Ori
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.07.2025
Sage Publications Ltd
Subjects:
Algorithms
Capitalism
Consumer goods
Culture
Democracy
Governance
Identity formation
Justification
Marginality
Mass media effects
Modern society
Neoliberalism
Politics
Predictions
Social media
Social networks
Transformation
consumer culture
TikTok
predictive algorithms
choice
post-neoliberalism
ISSN:0263-2764, 1460-3616
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Choice has played a key role in late-modern economy, society, culture and politics, but recently predictive algorithms are decentring choice and replacing many of its instantiations, offering an alternative way to match individuals with information, cultural goods, and consumer products – and to govern people. This article has two contributions: first, it contextualizes the decentring of choice within the history of capitalism, showing how it emerged once psychological and economics knowledge transformed the meaning of choice from an economic engine into a problem (‘friction’ or ‘overload’). Second, it explores the wider significance and cultural-cum-political implications of this transformation. Algorithmic ‘individuation without choice’ challenges the role of choice in neoliberal subjectification. Choice is increasingly marginalized in everyday practice while retaining its role in justification (as predictions are construed as what actors would have chosen). As the decentring of choice expands from social media and consumption towards governance, it may pose a threat to democracy.
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ISSN:0263-2764
1460-3616
DOI:10.1177/02632764251322062