Ontological Duality of the Closet in Times of Surveillance Capitalism: Liminal Worlds

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between dissident identities and contemporary digital environments within a context marked by the expansion of surveillance capitalism and the growing technological mediation of everyday life. The social and cultural transformations driven by digitalization affect not only modes of communication but also processes of subjectivation, visibility, and resistance. Within this framework, the paper offers a theoretical reflection that connects classical debates on gender and sexuality with emerging challenges in hyperconnected societies. The analysis incorporates the study of the ontological duality of the closet from a philosophical perspective, understood as a space of tension between concealment and disclosure that is reconfigured under digital logics. This approach makes it possible to understand how algorithmic devices and social interaction platforms reshape queer visibility dynamics, generating new forms of control and exposure that impact both identity construction and the experience of intimacy. The article aims to introduce a series of neologisms, conceived as ontological realities and analytical categories, intended to provide a solid foundation for future reflections on this topic. Furthermore, it seeks to fully exploit the theoretical potential of existing scholarship on the closet—both nationally and internationally— by addressing it from a new paradigm: that of artificial intelligence, surveillance, and the reign of algorithms. The research explores a territory hitherto unexamined within academia: the status of closets in a context of algorithmic warfare. This proposal seeks to offer interpretative keys for understanding how digitalization and the data economy reconfigure contemporary closets, situating the discussion at the intersection of philosophy, feminist and queer theory, and technology studies. In doing so, it aims to contribute to a critical understanding of the processes shaping life in the digital age and to open spaces for debate on the ethical and political implications these transformations entail for LGBTIQ+ individuals.