Urusla Franklins Earthworms Theory for Social Change

i would like to begin

this talk by reading to you a quote by

dr ursula franklin

i started from the premise that we are

living in a very difficult

very interesting time a time in which a

major historical period

is coming to a convoluted end in this

talk

i draw on dr ursula franklin’s 1989

massey lectures the real world of

technology

cbc mass electrodes the real world of

technology story

and we’ll argue that while others

have insisted that the best way to

promote

technology in the post-cold war era was

through privatization of science and

technology

franklin warned against capricious use

of technology and it is

social and political implications her

deep concern

with the use uh with so with the with

the social impact of technology

was based on her close attention to the

sociality of technology

franklin proposed technology as far as

formalized practice

which has a direct link to culture

viewing technology as cultural practice

reveals the specific values attitudes

myths and interests and a mindset

which are embedded in the very designs

of technology

seeing technology as formalized practice

allows

us to appreciate complex and

multifaceted

and often several ways in which dominant

interests

shape how new technologies are designed

what new technologies get public funding

and what specific social values

attitudes and mindset are prioritized

through technological means and which

values

and are marginalized and or are

altogether

excluded technologically mediated

marginalization and exclusion

of those who are deemed unimportant

women indigenous peoples blacks and

others

deeply troubled frankly

contrary to the to the received wisdom

of the supposed neutrality objectivity

and functionality of technology franklin

franklin’s lectures lecture series the

real world of technology reveals that

there are

inbuilt top-down hierarchical features

which makes technology a powerful

instrument

of control and domination

inbuilt exclusionary dimensions of

technology design

technological designs can be executed

without facing serious challenges from

the very public

that’s expected to use this this

technologies

additionally technologically mediated

exclusionary features

can often prevent active participation

of ordinary citizens

in the process of funding and designing

new technologies

so why is franklin’s real world of

technology

still relevant

as we grapple with the rise of

anti-science movements

online proliferation of fake news

conspiracy theories

climate change deniers anti-factors

and global pandemics such as covert

online

dealing with these challenges require

require new ideas new technologies

and democratic process of public

engagement

in the funding designing and uses of new

technologies

especially in the domains of information

technology

and the internet some

social commentators blamed social media

for the rise of what has come to be

known as trumpism

trumpism is still a poorly defined term

that refers to the use of online

platforms

to share and widely disseminate

extremist

views and conspiracy theories and that

these

groups were claimed to have tilted the

2016 u.s presidential election results

in favor of donald trump there are also

yet to be proven

claims that state-sponsored russian

hackers

have also played a critical role in the

election of trump

in 2016. white russian hackers did not

help trump

in the in 2020 presidential presidential

elect

elections is not clear what’s clear

is that now it has become much

easier to use different types of

technologies

to undermine democracy and weaken the

legitimacy of science and technology

as essential social goods so when i was

asked

to give this tech talk i wanted to

imagine

how ursula franklin who died in 2016

the same year trump came to power might

have

explained the rise of trumpism

the power of social media widespread

skepticism

of the efficacy of science and

technology of science

and the rise of fake science

as such this talk is celebration

of the life of the late dr franklin it

is also a reflection of how her work

has influenced my own research and

teaching practices

i first met dr franklin in 1997

when i was a master’s student at the

university of toronto

in my first graduate essay i explored

the relationship between participatory

technology and participatory democracy

several life-changing experiences led me

to ask the relationship between

technology

and democracy i came to canada

in the early 1980s as a refugee from

war-torn somalia

i was in winnipeg when the cold war

collapsed i became hopeful

that the world will now focus on

building

technologies for peace instead of the

technologies for war

and i was particularly encouraged by the

united nations conference

on environment and development which

took place

in june 1992 in rio de janeiro

brazil this first post-cold war

conference

gave me a new hope that with the end of

the cold war

that massive resources which were once

deployed for the research and

development and the mass production of

the technologies of

of mass destruction can now be turned

into a peace dividend and can be

redirected

to the making of new technologies which

promoted

the peace and democracy

but my euphoria was quickly dashed

when the canadian federal government

started cutting

funds to many environmental groups i was

part of

such as the winnipeg center for

sustainable development

now the new government’s new government

priorities included

cutting the deficit and promoting

globalization

and the future of science took drastic

terms

for the worse instead of deploying

public resources which were once used

for the

production of the technologies of war

now

researchers and academic institutions

were encouraged

to seek partnership with the private

sector

in order to keep their institutions

and research programs afloat it was very

clear to me that this policy shift

happened with little democratic

deliberations

and that these policy shifts were made

to promote

the interests of private corporations

at the expense of the public

it was in this historical context that i

became

keenly interested in the relationship

between

participatory democracy and

participatory technology

this was one of the themes which frank

with dr franklin delineated

in the real world of technology i was

interested in gaining a better

understanding

on how dominant scientific

and technological paradigms and designs

facilitate

exclusion and marginalization and how we

may imagine

different paradigms values

and and i and values and ideas which

could promote

participatory democracy and

participatory technology

i was so inspired by dr franklin’s work

that i wanted

to meet and interview the author of this

amazing work

with the help of my political theory

professor dr frank cunningham

i was able to meet with dr franklin in

her office

at the massey hall of the university of

toronto

dr franklin was born in germany

right after the end of world war one to

a progressive family

who instilled in her the values of

social justice

fairness and critical thinking but she

and her parents ended up in nazi

internment camps

but luckily all of them have survived

as a holocaust survivor dr franklin

dedicated her life

to promoting peace social justice and

inclusivity

through her research practices

meeting her in person and reading her

work

had a profound influence on how i think

about

designing inclusive and engaging courses

how to critically analyze the social

implications

of technology and the ways in which new

technologies

such as social media shape social values

which sometimes lead to destructive

consequences

dr franklin’s work continues to inspire

and helps me in the process of turning

socially important issues into teachable

moments

in 2012 i published

a journal article entitled

the sanctification of skin whitening and

the entrepreneurial

university-linked corporate officer

in this work i critically interrogated

the interlocking strategies of

scientific entrepreneurialism

and academic capitalism in the in

cutting edge

innovations in molecular biology

biomedicine

and other life sciences and how drastic

financial cut cutbacks forced

universities

to find other ways of generating

revenues

as lucrative and unregulated market skin

whitening by technology

generates much needed cash for

universities

and proprietary investors alike

the globalization of skin whitening is

greatly facilitated

by web-based advertisements which are

often