Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
I study the political economy of information technology. I’m a Senior Research Fellow in the Emerging Technologies Research Lab // Department of Human Centred-Computing // Faculty of Information Technology // Monash University // Melbourne, Australia. I’m also an Associate Investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making & Society.
Currently, my work is funded by a DECRA fellowship from the Australian Research Council for a project researching the market for insurance technology, the regime of actuarial governance, and the impacts of this risky business for all of us. See my recent journal article — Total Life Insurance: Logics of Anticipatory Control and Actuarial Governance in Insurance Technology — for an overview of the framework and agenda that motivates my research.
My first book — Too Smart: How Digital Capitalism is Extracting Data, Controlling Our Lives, and Taking Over the World — lays out how the pursuit of power and profit is being materialized through smart technologies that have infiltrated all of society. My second book — The Mechanic and the Luddite: A Ruthless Criticism of Technology and Capitalism — goes even deeper into demystifying the material relations that underlie these systems and showing why technological capitalism must be dismantled so we can build a better world, bit by bit. These two books are best paired together.
In addition to publishing work in a range of academic journals, I also regularly write and speak about the politics of technology in many major media outlets. All of that can be found on my CV.
I also co-host a weekly podcast on technology and political economy: This Machine Kills. You can listen and subscribe anywhere fine podcasts are distributed.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
Human and Social Dimensions of Science and Technology, Doctor of Philosophy, Arizona State University
Award Date: 9 Aug 2016
Research area keywords
- smart technology
- digital technology
- automation
- data and society
- political economy
- inequality
- urban geography
- social theory
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Implications of ‘data hunger’ in rental housing: protecting Australian tenants
Maalsen, S. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Martin, C. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Rogers, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Wolifson, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Humphrey, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Sadowski, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Soundararaj, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Clarke, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Przhedetsky, L. (Chief Investigator (CI))
Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute
12/08/24 → 25/07/25
Project: Research
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Everyday Insurtech: Impacts of Emerging Technology for Insurance
Sadowski, J. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI))
1/01/22 → 31/12/24
Project: Research
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VSL Project: City of Melbourne: Visual Sensing Language
Sadowski, J. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Lanzeni, D. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Dahlgren, K. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Pink, S. (Chief Investigator (CI))
Melbourne City Council (City of Melbourne)
12/06/20 → 21/09/20
Project: Research
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‘It's not personal, it's strictly business’: behavioural insurance and the impacts of non-personal data on individuals, groups and societies
Bednarz, Z., Lewis, K. & Sadowski, J., Apr 2025, In: Computer Law and Security Review. 56, 14 p., 106096.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Asserting the public interest in health data: On the ethics of data governance for biobanks and insurers
Metcalf, K. & Sadowski, J., 15 Oct 2024, In: Big Data and Society. 11, 4, 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Citations (Scopus) -
More work for Big Mother: revaluing care and control in smart homes
Sadowski, J., Strengers, Y. & Kennedy, J., Feb 2024, In: Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space. 56, 1, p. 330-345 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
37 Citations (Scopus) -
Risk, value, vitality: the moral economy of a global behavioural insurance platform
Sadowski, J., Lewis, K. & Bednarz, Z., 2 Apr 2024, In: Economy and Society. 53, 2, p. 227-249 23 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access7 Citations (Scopus) -
Beyond the driverless car: a typology of forms and functions for autonomous mobility
Jones, R., Sadowski, J., Dowling, R., Worrall, S., Tomitsch, M. & Nebot, E., 2023, In: Applied Mobilities. 8, 1, p. 26-46 21 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
11 Citations (Scopus)
Prizes
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Most cited article – Antipode
Sadowski, J. (Recipient), 2022
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Most cited article – Big Data & Society
Sadowski, J. (Recipient), 2022
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Most cited article – Science, Technology & Human Values
Sadowski, J. (Recipient), 2022
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Press/Media
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The energy costs of staying at home
Dahlgren, K., Sadowski, J., Strengers, Y., Nicholls, L. & Pink, S.
21/08/20
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature