Kopsaj V. Blockchain e fiducia. La tecnologia che riscrive il sociale

Authors: Vera Kopsaj

Abstract

This article investigates the role of blockchain technology as a social infrastructure capable of reshaping the construction of trust and identity in contemporary society. Drawing on a sociological perspective, the article examines how digitally mediated infrastructures reconfigure relational conditions traditionally grounded in interpersonal or institutional trust. Through a critical review of classical theories of trust (Simmel, Luhmann, Giddens), the article introduces the concept of algorithmic trust, a new form of sociability based on computational processes. This notion is discussed in light of contributions in digital sociology and Science and Technology Studies (van Dijck, 2021; Couldry, Mejias, 2019; Jasanoff, 2016), which highlight the political implications of technological infrastructures. The analysis focuses on key areas of blockchain application, particularly in healthcare, distributed governance and global cooperation, highlighting both its emancipatory potential and the ambivalences it raises, including the risks of technocratic control and algorithmic opacity. The article proposes a morphology of algorithmic trust and argues for a renewed sociological framework capable of capturing the transformations intro-duced by technologies that not only mediate but actively reshape the foundations of social relations.

Keywords: Blockchain, Algorithmic trust, DAO, Self-Sovereign Identity, Decentralised governance, Sociology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.13131/unipi/gr13-8j60

Notes on contributors

VERA KOPSAJ è ricercatrice di Sociologia presso UniCamillus – Saint Camillus International University of Health and Medical Sciences
Email: vera.kopsaj@unicamillus.org