1° Premio AIS giovani. "Con Max Weber 100 anni dopo. Sulle spalle dei giganti"

The recursive action of a persistent dynamic, that appears to be centered on the attempt to translate every conduct of human action into methodical control, has decreed a further way of approaching the object, contributing, to actualize the thought of Weber, “to build that mighty cosmos of the order of the modern economy – linked to the technical and economic presuppositions of mechanical production – which today determines, with such an invincible coercive force, the lifestyle of all individuals who are born within this great machine” (2012, p. 215). It is from this point of view that, in my opinion, it is possible to discuss a capitalist rationalization of cyberspace (Weber, 2006), at a time when the bequest of the Protestant ethic – in a further secularized reality such as this one today – has laid the bases for “interrogating” the digital space with respect to control, rational calculation, and predictability criteria. In this sense, the proliferation of algorithms aimed at the (intellectual, therefore economic) domination of this new emerged land is the most evident sign of such a timeless human desire, of such an iron cage, which suggests an intrinsic vocation. It is here that the Web giants – the “pirates of Silicon Valley” – insinuate themselves, unfolding their sails and waving their flags, while associating the lust for technical knowledge with another equally ancient thirst (that Weber distinguishes from accumulation of capital such as Beruf), that is economic profit.