Introduction: Situating Data as Cultural Inquiry

This collection examines the impact of data, datafication, and algorithmization on contemporary culture, and thereby also on the agenda of
the broader field of cultural inquiry. Our perspective is double. We ask:
Where and how do data and algorithms shape and transform culture? But
also, where and how do they impact and transform scholarly practices
in the study of culture? Situating data as cultural inquiry, thus, is not
only an act of localizing data both in and as culture, but also an act of
situating our perspective on, and knowledge about, this culture. With the
selection of chapters in this collection, contributing to the diversification
of cultural inquiry, we propose conceptual and methodological directions
for exploring where, when, and how data and algorithms (re)shape cultural
practices, create (in)justice, and produce knowledge.