The Promise of Access, with Daniel Greene

Why do we keep trying to solve poverty with technology? What makes us feel that we need to learn to code—or else? This common sense has ruled our economic imaginary for at least 30 years. Those who cannot log on or train up are condemned to the margins of the information economy and contained by… Continue reading The Promise of Access, with Daniel Greene

Rooted in Community: The Equitable Internet Initiative, with Janice Gates

About 38% of households in Detroit have no broadband connection at home with 63% of low-income households with no broadband connection. The median household income in Detroit is $26,249. Up to 70% of school-aged children in Detroit have no Internet access at home. In Detroit’s lower-income communities, affordable internet access either does not exist or… Continue reading Rooted in Community: The Equitable Internet Initiative, with Janice Gates

Digital Feudalism & the Key Technology Battles of the Next Administration, with Sascha Meinrath

Over the past quarter-century, the liberatory and empowering potentials of new digital technologies have been squandered by Democratic and Republican administrations alike. While the rhetoric of reform and corporate accountability has been widespread, systemic failures to rein in harmful practices have stretched rule of law to the breaking point. And whether one looks at broadband… Continue reading Digital Feudalism & the Key Technology Battles of the Next Administration, with Sascha Meinrath

Agonism & Activism: community organizing in datafied worlds, with Roderic Crooks

Contemporary forms of data activism promise community organizers the means to pursue political action, but they simultaneously threaten to responsibilize individuals and communities for documenting collective harms that are already known to the state (and to community members themselves). This talk uses Mouffe’s articulation of agonistic pluralism to analyze recent literature on data activism in… Continue reading Agonism & Activism: community organizing in datafied worlds, with Roderic Crooks