Decolonization, Digital Sphere, and Empowered Communities (NeMLA)
Rhode Island
Organization: Salve Regina University in Newport,
Event: NeMLA
The digital infrastructure in today’s world mirrors the colonial administrative structure with its control over data, policing user’s behavior, and pushing narratives for the majoritarian political power. The global tech giants have as much sway in geopolitics as the global leaders themselves. Previously the conditions of colonization created an unequal economic infrastructure that marginalizes the local communities, and even after independence from the colonial power, the trade relations remain that of a colonial appendage. Similarly, the upkeep of the digital sphere is not without its economic and environmental hazards. Anibal Quijano (1928-2018) a Peruvian sociologist, talks about the plight of this expansion for resources in his book, On the Coloniality of Power. He says:
…the contemporary scientific community, insists on destroying the conditions for life on the planet. So, both the movement of the most subjugated people in this world, those who would not be able to exist if they sold their means of subsistence, and those who realize that if all this comes to an end no one will be able to survive, come together in a shared analysis. 359
He stresses on the role of the communities who’ve resisted the colonial and postcolonial measures to protect their land, water, and air over the years. It shows how the communities have more of a lateral structure which allows for debate and discussions as opposed to the hierarchy of the colonial administrative infrastructure. This panel seeks to garner discourse around the digital world’s ambivalent nature of enhancing global communications and generating jobs at the cost of endangering local communities. Questions, challenges, and possible solutions for a community-oriented resistance will be among the many concerns discussed at this panel.
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Saleha Malik