Datum: 18 juni 2025
Tid: 10:00-11:45
Venue: Holländargatan 13, Stockholm, or online
Research seminar with Eli Cook, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Haifa.
Abstract
Based on my forthcoming book with Penguin-Random House, this talk will trace the rise of “choice architecture” as a central mechanism of power in recent American capitalism. From supermarket layouts and multiple choice quizzes to five-star ratings and 401-k menus, I will demonstrate how seemingly free choices were increasingly shaped by choice architects —be they consumer psychologists, behavioral economists, media moguls or tech platforms —who carefully planned, curated and designed the options we choose from. Challenging the celebratory language of free choice as well as the deceptively framed approach to behavioral "nudging," I will argue that these curated menus and limiting choice environments have come to dominate our everyday lives in countless ways - especially since the rise of online platforms. By uncovering the hidden history of choice design and the analog origins of digital capitalism, Choose-Your-Own-Captivity seeks to redefine how we understand freedom and power in a choice-saturated world.
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