In GeoTechnoGraphy: Mapping Power and Identity in the Digital Age, Samir Saran and Anirban Sarma critically examine how digital platforms have reshaped human interactions, disrupted traditional institutions, and redefined global power structures. Through rigorous analysis, the authors introduce the concept of geotechnography, a collision of technology and geography, as a framework to understand contemporary geopolitical and social transformations. As nations struggle to assert control over digital domains, the book brings democracy, sovereignty, and international norms into a compelling framework—making its insights especially engaging in an age dominated by Big Tech.
The book opens by challenging the idea that geography has lost relevance in the digital age. While digital platforms create cloud societies that transcend borders, physical geography continues to shape political conflicts, national identity, and governance. The early chapters trace geography’s enduring influence on politics, governance, and development—offering a sharp, counterintuitive take that challenges the common belief in the digital age’s borderless reality.
A key theme in the book is how digitalisation has upended established notions of community and identity. The authors highlight the rise of mediated selves, where individuals construct online personas that diverge from their real-world identities and can sometimes lack authenticity—“Digital life has transformed our sense of self and our relationships with others. Not only do we live mediated lives ourselves; our relationships—romantic, familial, collegial and others—are all mediated as well.”
Social media has amplified parasocial relationships, allowing prominent public figures to shape global narratives beyond their physical locations. However, this also produces the risk of algorithm-driven interactions reinforcing echo chambers and distorting historical memory.
One of the book’s most intriguing arguments is that Big Tech has become a quasi-religious institution, wielding power akin to historical clergy. The authors add, “By reserving the right to deny us permission, coders have already circumscribed what we can do and who we can engage with online. This permission-based system makes them quasi-gatekeepers of our speech, choices, and actions.” Algorithms, AI-driven decision-making, and data monopolies now dictate personal choices, economic opportunities, and even political preferences.
Figures like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are portrayed as modern-day high priests of the digital age, with their companies shaping everything from free speech policies to global governance norms.
The book delves into the darker aspects of digital transformation, including the rise of cyber threats, radicalisation, and misinformation campaigns. The Myanmar Rohingya crisis, where Facebook was exploited to spread hate speech, serves as a case study of how unregulated digital spaces can fuel real-world violence. The authors warn that without stronger governance mechanisms, digital societies risk implosion, with cyberattacks, online radicalisation, and AI-driven misinformation undermining social cohesion.
The authors propose a rules-based digital order that balances technological innovation with governance frameworks. They argue that digital sovereignty must be redefined to include regulatory oversight of AI, algorithmic accountability, and ethical standards for Big Tech. Countries like Taiwan provide successful models of digital democracy, leveraging technology to enhance transparency and citizen participation. However, the book acknowledges that global coordination remains a challenge.
While the narrative presents a timely and thought-provoking analysis of digital transformation and governance tensions, the book is rich in theoretical discourse and analytical depth, making it best suited for an informed audience familiar with geopolitical and technological concepts. Finally, GeoTechnoGraphy serves as a comprehensive and intellectual examination of how technology is reshaping power in the 21st century.
Without urgent reforms, the fourth industrial revolution could be the shortest in history, unless a new equilibrium between technology and governance is established.