Commodification of Control
The process by which control—over people, environments, or information—is turned into a product that can be bought, sold, and owned. The commodification of control takes many forms: hiring a firm to monitor your staff, buying software to restrict what children see online, subscribing to a service that erases your digital footprint. Once control becomes a commodity, it is no longer a relationship or a responsibility; it is a transaction. The rich can buy more control (over their privacy, their security, their reputation), while the poor are subjected to the control of others. Commodification turns power into property.
Example: “The gated community sold residents ‘peace of mind’ via facial recognition cameras and private patrols—commodification of control, where security is a luxury good and exclusion is the product.”
Elitism of Control
A hierarchical attitude that assumes certain people (the educated, the wealthy, the technologically adept) are naturally entitled to control others (the poor, the uncredentialed, the “irrational”). The elitism of control justifies surveillance, paternalism, and algorithmic management as necessary measures to guide the “unruly masses.” It appears in debates about social credit systems, in workplace “productivity software,” and in tech platforms’ claims to “curate” content for the public good. The elitism of control denies its own power, framing control not as domination but as benevolence—a gift to those too foolish to manage themselves.
Example: “The tech CEO said ‘we need to save users from misinformation’—elitism of control, assuming that he and his algorithms should decide what others are allowed to see.”
Elitism of Control
A hierarchical attitude that assumes certain people (the educated, the wealthy, the technologically adept) are naturally entitled to control others (the poor, the uncredentialed, the “irrational”). The elitism of control justifies surveillance, paternalism, and algorithmic management as necessary measures to guide the “unruly masses.” It appears in debates about social credit systems, in workplace “productivity software,” and in tech platforms’ claims to “curate” content for the public good. The elitism of control denies its own power, framing control not as domination but as benevolence—a gift to those too foolish to manage themselves.
Example: “The tech CEO said ‘we need to save users from misinformation’—elitism of control, assuming that he and his algorithms should decide what others are allowed to see.”
Commodification of Control by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal April 21, 2026
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