"New York's South Asian cabbies probably had no idea they were straddling the digital divide when they used their own CB channels to organize surprise strikes and demonstrations. But in Technicolor: Race, Technology, and Everyday Life, the editors bring together a series of essays that broaden the concept far beyond the borders of your average two-part Times series." --New York Magazine
”What is revealed? Powerful visions, future-fantasies that as science fiction writer Nalo Hopkinson would argue, “can make the impossible, possible” —Resource Center for CyberCulture Studies
The cultural impact of new information and communication technologies has been a constant topic of debate, but questions of race and ethnicity remain a critical absence. TechniColor fills this gap by exploring the relationship between race and technology.
”Technicolor is at once heroic and tragic: an anthology that will prompt new conversations.” —C. Richard King, Washington State University
From Indian H-1B Workers and Detroit techno music to karaoke and the Chicano interneta, TechniColor's specific case studies document the ways in which people of color actually use technology. The results rupture such racial stereotypes as Asian whiz-kids and Black and Latino techno-phobes, while fundamentally challenging many widely-held theoretical and political assumptions.
Incorporating a broader definition of technology and technological practices--to include not only those technologies thought to create "revolutions" (computer hardware and software) but also cars, cellular phones, and other everyday technologies--TechniColor reflects the larger history of technology use by people of color.
Contributors: Vivek Bald, Ben Chappell, Beth Coleman, McLean Greaves, Logan Hill, Alicia Headlam Hines, Karen Hossfeld, Amitava Kumar, Casey Man Kong Lum, Alondra Nelson, Mimi Nguyen, Guillermo Goméz-Peña, Tricia Rose, Andrew Ross, Thuy Linh Nguyen Tu, and Ben Williams.
Breaking new ground! In all the relentess hype over the internet in the last 5 years, it's remarkable how little attention has been paid to the cultural and political factors that influence our understanding of new technologies. Maybe everyone was too obsessed with their stock options, or maybe people in this country are just oblivious to anything beyond what's right in front of their noses. At any rate, Technicolor provides a sorely needed alternative perspective on the information age. Did you know that lowriding is a fully articulated Chicano technological worldview? Did you realize that Detroit techno was soundtracking cyberspace when Moby was in diapers? Have you heard about cyber-vatos? Are you aware of the disparities in access that exist between rich white people and communities of color? Do you know how much sexist crap Asian American women online have to put up with? Questioning the tired narrative of the digital divide, this book mixes up politics, culture and techno-theory to brilliant effect. You might look at your computer a whole new way after you read it.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
