Why read Race After Technology?

Book cover of Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code

Book description

From everyday apps to complex algorithms, Ruha Benjamin cuts through tech-industry hype to understand how emerging technologies can reinforce White supremacy and deepen social inequity.

Benjamin argues that automation, far from being a sinister story of racist programmers scheming on the dark web, has the potential to hide, speed up,…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Race After Technology as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Raven Maragh-Lloyd

Author

Everyone has that one book that is the I-can’t-put-this-down book. Race After Technology was that book for me.

Ruha Benjamin writes in a way that is so down to earth, tackling heavy subjects like algorithms, systemic racism, and more in a way that is somehow accessible, scholarly, and whippingly smart all in one.

From Raven's list on internet activism (hint: the kids are actually alright).

Colin Koopman

Author

Race After Technology develops a crucial perspective on the ethical and political fault lines of both contemporary social media and their longer history. Far from functioning as the neutral technologies that they are often presented as, Benjamin shows how “default discrimination” is built into platform after platform, algorithm after algorithm, and therefore expressed in click after click. If you hold out any hope for technological neutrality in a racially-unequal society, this book will transform your expectations and sober your stance. It will also inspire you to redouble your commitments to building a more equal technological future.

From Colin's list on data ethics (and data politics).