haroon sheikh

The world is increasingly governed by spreadsheets, protocols and algorithms. In schools, hospitals and government institutions, people find themselves caught up in systems designed to make everything measurable and controllable. Where there was once room to act based on experience or improvisation, what remains is simply carrying out tasks correctly. Haroon Sheikh joins Hartmut Rosa to examine this logic and its impact on our humanity. What happens when we learn once again to engage with what cannot be planned, measured or controlled?

Haroon Sheikh is a senior researcher at the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) and a professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where he is affiliated with the Department of Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) and the Philosophy of Culture and Governance. Previously, he was a lead researcher in the field of emerging markets and headed the think tank FreedomLab. His books include Embedding Technopolis and Hydropolitics. Haroon regularly contributes to Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad.