October 25, 2023
Why are sector transgressions so hard to govern? Reflections from Europe’s pandemic experience
In this commentary, the notion of ‘sector transgressions’ is addressed, which the researchers define as a problem of infrastructural power with features of regulatory capture.
Abstract
During the pandemic, new markets were created for public service provision in many fields, including but not limited to public health, and governments in the EU decreased regulatory controls on the private provision of public services. The results included increased government readiness to accept economic and political dependencies in return for efficiencies provided by large-scale infrastructures; decreased resistance among the general public to the private-sector takeover of what had been public tasks, and a corresponding lack of transparency about procurement and the alliances being made. We examine the features of these sector transgressions which make them difficult for civil society to resist, namely the instrumentalisation of privacy and data protection, the legalisation of transgressions through the decrease in regulatory controls, and the attractiveness to government of cheap and efficient infrastructural underpinnings to public services.
To continue reading please visit: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2023.2264919
This open access article was published in Information, Communication and Society on 25 October 2023.
Taylor, L., Martin, A., de Souza, S. P., & Lopez-Solano, J. (2024). Why are sector transgressions so hard to govern? Reflections from Europe’s pandemic experience. Information, Communication & Society, 27(15), 2721–2725. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2023.2264919
Keywords: Infrastructures, big data, regulation, COVID-19, political economy, legitimacy
Authors
Justice
Prof. dr. Linnet Taylor
Professor of international data governance / Tilburg University
University Profile
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