Surveillance Capitalism and the Normalization of Digital Surveillance: An Analysis of Dave Eggers’s The Every (2021)

Dave Eggers’s satirical novel The Every (2021), a sequel to The Circle (2013), expands on some of the earlier novel’s main themes while also illustrating and denouncing how surveillance practices are increasingly met with little resistance on the part of the population. Drawing on recent research on surveillance, such as Shoshana Zuboff’s theorization of “surveillance capitalism” and Evan Selinger and Judy Rhee’s concept of “favorably disposed normalization,” this article examines surveillance practices in the society depicted in The Every and sheds light on the mechanisms through which Eggers puts forward his message of warning. Some reviewers have criticized the writer’s plot and character development skills, as well as his inability to offer any alternatives to this world of mass digital surveillance. Nevertheless, this article argues that Eggers’s narrative choices ultimately leave readers with a sense of unease that may at best lead them to take action.