A Logical Examination of Data Capitalization in the Era of Digital Capitalism

Digital technology has brought contemporary capitalism into the stage of digital capitalism. During this period, the data generated in the production and life of human society is transformed into data capital, and the deprivation of data capital becomes a new landscape of capitalist market competition. In this context, exploring the logic of data capitalization can better grasp the production relations and development trends of digital capitalism. From the perspective of historical logic, capitalist private ownership is the historical premise to promote data capitalization, and data capitalization has created a realistic possibility for the continuation and development of private ownership of production means in contemporary society. From the perspective of commodity logic, data capital evolves and develops according to the path of "data elements - data commodities - data capital". From the perspective of technical logic, capital incorporates digital technology into its own production system, and completes the plunder and monopoly of data with the help of digital platforms. From the perspective of accumulation logic, digital capitalism realizes the expansion of data capital by building a digital labor system to deprive surplus value.