From the Anthropocene to the Datacene

Bodies, Algorithms and the Fiction of Green Capitalism

Abstract

The emergence of digital infrastructures applied to environmental management — such as climate artificial intelligence, ecological blockchain, remote sensing, and monitoring platforms — has consolidated a new sociotechnical regime that algorithmically transforms territories, bodies, and ecosystems. This article critically analyzes how these technologies, embedded within platform capitalism, reproduce dynamics of digital coloniality, the financialization of nature, and algorithmic biopolitics. Based on a qualitative, theoretical, and critical approach, it draws from frameworks in data colonialism, algorithmic curation, and Southern epistemologies to investigate the ontological, epistemic, and political impacts of the platformization of nature and cultural heritage in the Anthropocene. Findings indicate that converting ecosystems into digital assets — through NFTs, carbon credits, and predictive models — not only intensifies socio-environmental inequalities but also deepens epistemic and technopolitical asymmetries. However, counter-hegemonic practices are emerging, articulating data sovereignty, climate justice, and digital cosmopolitics as potential alternatives. The study’s main limitation lies in its predominantly theoretical nature, highlighting the need for future empirical research, particularly digital ethnographies and case studies in territories directly affected by these technologies.