zatkane
Zatkane is a term used in speculative fiction and critical theory to describe a social condition in which individuals are effectively trapped within highly regulated digital and bureaucratic systems, limiting autonomy and mobility. The concept covers physical confinement, informational enclosure, and behavioral constraints imposed by platforms, institutions, and infrastructures that mediate access to resources, communication, and opportunity.
Zatkane is a constructed term. It borrows a Slavic flavor, drawing on the Polish verb zatkać (to
Coined in the 2030s by science fiction writers and media theorists, zatkane emerged as a shorthand for
Scholars debate its usefulness as a concept and its precision. Proponents argue that zatkane names a recognizable
See also: surveillance capitalism, algorithmic governance, digital sovereignty, platform power. Further reading includes works in speculative