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Audio of "Digital Dead End"
by Virginia Eubanks
Wave the magic wand of technology and all of societies' ills will be cured. Well, not so fast – you might just turn someone into a pumpkin.
As many declare that internet will bring about democracy – that social networking sites started the revolutions in the Middle East – and that the Information Age will save us all – Virginia Eubanks, author of Digital Dead End pulls us back into reality. Working from a concept deemed the “Digital Divide” Eubanks spent four years studying working-class women at a local YWCA in Troy-Cohoes. She analyzed the meanings behind some people's access to technology and others' lackthereof. She discovered that access normally was categorized along the lines of race, class, and gender. While the privileged believe technology to be the cure-all, Eubanks found that many disadvantaged populations saw technology as a source of oppression and surveillance.
However, with these women Eubanks examined how technology can be utilized for social justice.
Eubanks spoke at Red Emma's on Friday, April 22nd. We were very pleased to have her fascinating studies and thought-provoking discourse added to the ever-growing conversation: Technology, poison or tonic? Or merely a tool?
“I have bad news and good news,” Eubanks stated, “Bad news: Twitter didn't start the Egyptian Revolution. Good news: The people did.”
