On Friday September 16, NOG PhD Gerwin van Schie will defend his thesis The Datafication of Race-Ethnicity: An Investigation into Technologically Mediated Racialization in Dutch Governmental Data Systems and Infrastructures. Van Schie investigates how data on race and ethnicity of Dutch citizens are created, distributed, and used. Many authorities use these ‘race-ethnic’ data in algorithmic systems. In his dissertation, Van Schie shows that this can lead to discrimination, because the data and algorithms are not ‘neutral’, as is often thought […] This kind of data use is often based on assumptions of efficiency and accuracy. Unjustly, Van Schie argues. The case studies he examined discriminated on the basis of race or ethnicity, but did not contribute to the effectiveness goals that were pursued. By using race- and ethnicity-based categories and labels, data applications also reproduce existing inequalities under the guise of ‘objective’ measurements and calculations, writes Van Schie. These categories and labels are often a legacy of the Dutch colonial past and based on age-old prejudices against people with a migration background. See here for more information.
Details PhD Defense
Date: Friday September 16, 2022
Time: 16.15 hrs.
Location: online and for invited guests in the Utrecht University Hall. See here for the link to the livestream
Title: The Datafication of Race-Ethnicity: An Investigation into Technologically Mediated Racialization in Dutch Governmental Data Systems and Infrastructures.
Supervisors: Prof. dr. Sandra Ponzanesi and Prof. dr José van Dijck
