The Critical Approach to Technology Is Something That We Should Be Fostering

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O maesor: I think it's completely ok that you included me in that category because, you know, the quarty keyboards is completely normalized to me. It's something i never really questioned. The first time i came across the french azerti keyboard, i was like, what is this? This is so weird. Why would they ever use a keyboard like this, right? So, yes, i completely get that. Now, i think it's such an important point. Like the critical approach to technology is something that we should be fostering, instead of just, youknow, lindly accepting the technologies that are pushed at us and believing that they are going to help

Paris Marx is joined by David Nemer to discuss how residents of Brazil’s favelas reshape technologies developed in the Global North to serve their needs, and how technology alone does not solve social oppression.

David Nemer is an assistant professor in the Department of Media Studies and in the Latin American Studies program at the University of Virginia. He’s also the author of Technology of the Oppressed: Inequity and the Digital Mundane in Favelas of Brazil. Follow David on Twitter at @DavidNemer.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Paris’ new book Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong about the Future of Transportation is out on July 5! It’s currently on sale at Verso Books.
Ahead of hosting the World Cup, Brazil forced thousands of favela residents from their homes.
Grace Blakeley recent spoke to David Adler about Colombia’s election and the use of TikTok.
Dan Greene wrote The Promise of Access: Technology, Inequality, and the Political Economy of Hope and Lindsay Ems wrote Virtually Amish: Preserving Community at the Internet's Margins.

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