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
me
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
sponsored by pharmaceutical and
cosmetics companies
franklin’s assertion that technology
shapes
our values is reflected on many online
marketing discourses which shape public
views about whiteness
beauty aging a symbol term
of decline this symbol
uh uh symbol uh promotions
entice consumers to particip participate
in anti-aging wellness and whiteness
consumerism
yet these promotions are are based on
pseudoscience claims with no verifiable
evidence to back up consequently
despite lacking regulatory framework and
verifiable efficacy
the skin whitening by technology became
a lucrative industry
thus unlike active factors and climate
change deniers
the skin whitening industry faced little
public scrutiny
because the primary target of such
industry
is women i conclude
my presentation by proposing franklin’s
theory
of earthworms as a metaphor for change
wherein ideas for social and ecological
justice
can be cultivated nurtured and
disseminated
symbolically in similar ways in which
earthworms
materially prepare the soil as
nitrogen fixers without which no seeds
can grow
as a metaphor for progressive change
franklin’s earthworms
is an insightful way of examining social
and cultural
the social and cultural implications of
technology
as a way of doing things franklin’s
earthworm theory
is pertinent to examining the
interconnectedness
of number of crises the world is facing
today
such as climate change inequities
poverty must display mass displacement
extremism and ultra nationalism
what’s so unique what’s unique about
earthworms
earthworms have no eyes but they could
see
because they’re like because their light
receptors
allowed them to see things in the dark
earthworms also have no ears but their
bodies
can sense the vibrations of animals
moving nearby
using earthworm as a metaphor for
progressive change
allows us to think outside the box
and imagine all and enduring problems
in new and innovative ways the earthworm
can also be an inclusive metaphor which
allows
us to use different knowledges and
experiences
which go beyond the eurocentric
epistemology
of vision thank you