Power and Inequality in Media and Technology Working Group

The roots of systemic inequality have structured our contemporary world. Those with economic and political power have upheld these patterns of inequality as they shape mediated discourse and technological development. We see it today as information and communication technologies are framed as neutral, colorblind, meritocratic arbiters of ever-wider swathes of public and private life while placing certain populations at higher risk, blaming them for their vulnerability, and exonerating powerful entities from accountability. Examples abound—from the manufacture of widely-used technologies that exploit the labor of the global working class, and the unequal distribution of internet access and health disparities, to the ways the media covers racially-motivated violence and corporate surveillance. As such, this interdisciplinary group explores a broad variety of media and information technologies’ intersections with society, with the goal of promoting justice, equity and sustainability, as well as expanding on the scholarship of this multifaceted and important topic at SC&I and the university.

Key Aims

• To engage with many of the scholars within SC&I who are already doing extensive research in this area. Broadly, the WG would generate and support work and create community within SC&I on the topic, share skills and knowledge, and build meaningful cross-departmental collaborations.
• To assess research/information needs and develop plans to meet unexpected needs. We hope to create opportunities for various discussions and trainings in emergent areas—research methods, technologies, bodies of literature, community partnerships, and political imperatives­—and to draw from the networks we hope to build in doing so.
• Hold monthly informal peer review and feedback sessions where participants can share research trajectories and questions and discuss new work.