Ulises Mejias: Data Colonialism

Homebrewed Christianity

Dr. Tripp Fuller | Theologian, Philosopher, Minister

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 24 March 2025

⏱️ 96 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Ulises Mejias, Professor of Communication Studies and Director of the Institute for Global Engagement at the State University of New York. WE explore the concept of data colonialism, examining how modern technology companies extract and exploit personal data in ways that parallel historical colonialism. The conversation delves into how these practices impact education, immigration policy, and what resistance might look like in our digital age. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Here are the two editorials Ulises and I discuss The Core of Gen-AI is Incompatible with Academic Integrity Big Tech is powering Trump’s immigration crackdown Ulises Mejias is Professor of Communication Studies and Director of the Institute for Global Engagement at the State University of New York. Originally from Mexico City, his scholarship examines the relationship between technology, power, and colonialism. He is co-author with Nick Couldry of The Cost of Connection: How Data Colonizes Human Life and Appropriates It for Capitalism and Data Grab: The New Frontier of Digital Colonialism. His work focuses on decolonizing approaches to technology and data, particularly exploring how the extraction of personal data represents a new form of colonialism. This Episode is Sponsored By Scared Tension: Embracing Dissonance and Dialogue in the Old Testament As people of faith, the words of the Bible are sacred. But sometimes, if we’re being honest, the Bible —especially the Old Testament — is more confusing than clear. The contradictions and complexities in the texts leave us shaking our head with more questions than answers. In Sacred Tension: Embracing Dissonance and Dialogue in the Old Testament, popular biblical scholar Bill Brown suggests that the diversity in the Bible is in fact one of its greatest strengths, pointing us toward “more” Bible, not less. He invites us to read the Old Testament as a wide-ranging dialogue that is in conversation both with itself and with us, fostering further discussion and mutual discernment. With passion and expert insight, Brown takes you on an enlivening journey through the Bible, exploring its dissonance and complexity anew. Let the conversations begin! Get 20% off Sacred Tension with promo code HBCST at store.upperroom.org Theology Beer Camp | St. Paul, MN | October 16-18, 2025 3 Days of Craft Nerdiness with 50+ Theologians & God-Pods and 600 new friends. A Five-Week Online Lenten Class w/ John Dominic Crossan Join us for a transformative 5-week Lenten journey on "Paul the Pharisee: Faith and Politics in a Divided World."This course examines the Apostle Paul as a Pharisee deeply engaged with the turbulent political and religious landscape of his time. For details and to sign-up for any donation, including 0, head over here. _____________________ Hang with 40+ Scholars & Podcasts and 600 people at Theology Beer Camp 2025 (Oct. 16-18) in St. Paul, MN. This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 80,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 45 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What is up theology nerds? This is Tripp. And today on the podcast, we have a professor of
0:10.6	communication studies, the director of the Institute for Global Engagement at the State
0:16.0	University of New York, Ulysses, Mahias. And I got turned on to his work by a student. That's right. I was
0:25.2	teaching a class on AI and religion, and I brought up in the middle of it just how difficult
0:32.2	it is to tackle this subject, theologically, because so much of the literature that engages like AI, religion,
0:40.7	our relationship to technology is thinking about traditional theological concepts,
0:46.0	um, you know, like what does it mean to be human, the nature of community,
0:49.1	these kinds of things, but, but not many of them spend significant amount of time thinking of how the technology itself is reoriented, power in a dramatic way.
1:01.0	And so if we're wanting to look for liberation, if we're wanting to build solidarity, then there's both this task of understanding, right, our drive call an invitation to be a part of
1:13.8	God's flourishing injustice.
1:15.5	Yes, yes, that's, okay, almost every Christian theologian worth their salt is going to do that.
1:20.3	But if we don't know what we're up against, if we don't recognize how the terrain has changed,
1:25.7	how the web of relations between humanity, our economic
1:30.0	system, the nation, state, and power. Has it been rearranged under the rise of digital
1:36.0	technology and algorithms in such a way that what we're up against is different? So even the
1:41.1	drive for solidarity, even the dream of liberation takes different forms
1:45.8	based on our contemporary context. And I was talking about that. There, I even had conversations
1:53.8	with Gord Rieger recently in our class looking at global liberation theology about this.
1:58.9	And a student said, hey, you got to check out Ulysses.
2:01.6	And whoop, whoop, turns into deep dive trip reads,
2:05.6	all sorts of things, watching his lectures on the internet,
2:09.6	and then email him and boom, he said yes.
	...

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