Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31337/oz.81.4.2
From Providence to Prediction: A Genealogy of Security Between Theology and Algorithmic Control
Marija Gombar
orcid.org/0009-0000-8621-4007
; Mediji i komunikacije Sveučilište Sjever, Hrvatsko vojno učilište “Dr. Franjo Tuđman”, Zagreb, Hrvatska
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* Corresponding author.
Abstract
This paper offers a genealogical reconstruction of the security imaginary with particular
emphasis on the shift from theological Providence to algorithmic Prediction.
It identifies four dominant configurations of security consciousness: Providence,
Sovereignty, Mediatization, and Algorithmic Control. Each is grounded in distinct
epistemological logics and legitimising narratives. Drawing on Foucault, Castoriadis,
and Zuboff, the paper examines how security has moved from transcendence
and divine judgement to sovereign authority, affective media panic, and finally predictive
computation. A bibliometric analysis of 84 Scopus–indexed articles (2001–
2026), conducted using VOSviewer, maps recent conceptual clusters such as algorithmic
providence, epistemic obedience, and the security imaginary. The findings
indicate that contemporary security regimes are not neutral, but reproduce power
through probabilistic governance, datafication, and automated profiling. Within this
framework, users increasingly appear as nodes of risk rather than as legal subjects,
while knowledge is displaced by correlation and scoring. The paper concludes that
algorithmic security marks not only a technical shift but also an ontological rupture.
It calls for a new epistemology capable of resisting the silent codification of meaning,
truth, and responsibility in the name of predictive efficiency.
Keywords
algorithmic control; digital security; epistemic obedience; imaginary; prediction; providence; transcendence
Hrčak ID:
349804
URI
Publication date:
1.10.2026.
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