Data Empire

by Roopika Risam

Data Empire: The Power of Information to Organize, Control, and Dominate offers a sweeping 11,000‑year history of how data has been the engine of power. From the earliest clay tablets in Mesopotamia, through medieval tax records, colonial censuses, and modern algorithmic states, Roopika Risam shows that data‑driven governance predates computers and underpins every empire. The book argues that each system of counting, mapping, and recording decides who is visible, who is legible, and who can be ruled, linking ancient practices to today’s surveillance capitalism, targeted advertising, and border policing. It blends deep historical research with a critique of contemporary data infrastructures, urging readers to imagine resistance in an age where information itself is a weapon.