ScienceAugust 4, 2026

technofeudalism

tek-no-FYOO-duh-liz-uhm

Definition

A socioeconomic mode where Big Tech platforms act like feudal lords, extracting rent from users and producers outside of traditional market competition.

Etymology

A blend of 'technology' (from Greek tekhnē, art/craft) and 'feudalism' (from medieval Latin feudum, a land-tenure system), used here to analogize modern digital dominance to historical land-based systems.

In the news

The article proposes this term to describe how cloud capital, through behavioral modification and centralized control, has evolved beyond traditional capitalism.

The Marxist Case for the Technofeudal Hypothesis

Read the full article ↗

Jacobin

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