ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the inequalities that populate what we call the datascape and its relation with the notion of polycentric governance, of which we take the datafying practices around the 2030 Agenda as a proxy. We explore the potentialities of situated and embodied knowledges found in citizen-generated data projects focused on the SDGs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We suggest the lack of data about certain communities or of data usability in certain contexts are not incidental side-effects of the datascape but its ontological necessity. Such observations lead us to argue for attention to political matters, that is, a careful look at what should not be considered merely technical but is instead central to the democratic debate. We urge more attention for issues of relationality, that is, how data enacts diffused agency, impacting subjectivities, identities, and political truths. The chapter stresses the importance of seeing with data and analyzing who is made visible in the datascape using a polycentric framework to identify the differences, gaps, and dilemmas that come about with data governance and social justice.
