On the material consequences of (digital) literacy: Digital writing with, for, and against racial capitalism

ABSTRACT

This article argues that digital writing pedagogy needs to prepare students to deal with underlying oppressive realities within the range of everyday digital writing practices as opposed to simply focusing on affordances as unfettered opportunities. In particular, digital writing is increasingly mediated through digital apps and other interactive platforms whose designs enroll us into the social arrangements of racial capitalism, including through corporate interests, societal and language ideologies, social control, and other oppressive factors. As researchers and educators, we should especially be mindful of the participation of complex software such as algorithms. Machines are our coauthors, and machines are not neutral. Digital writing experiences, shaped as they are by design around idealized users and hegemonic social forces, are differentiated along intersectional lines. I discuss pedagogic implications for this as the context for understanding writing under contemporary racial technocapitalism, arguing for critical abolitionist design literacy as a way forward.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional Resources

1. Benjamin, R. (Ed.) (2019) Captivating technology: Race, carceral technoscience, and liberatory imagination in everyday life. Duke University Press.

Contributions to this volume revolve around carceral technoscience, the ways technologies perpetuate and deepen discriminatory policing and social control, such as through electronic ankle monitors and predictive-policing algorithms. Closing contributions highlight liberatory design justice possibilities.

2. Watson, D., Hagopian, J., Au, W. (eds.) (2018). Teaching for Black lives. Rethinking Schools. https://www.rethinkingschools.org/books/title/teaching-for-black-lives.

While not focused on technology or writing specifically, this collection of articles grew out of the movement for Black lives to fight anti-Black racism inside and outside of the classroom, highlighting the hope and beauty of student activism and collective action. Includes related teaching materials and resources.

3. Digital/Design Justice Resources from Ruha Benjamin (https://www.ruhabenjamin.com/resources).

A rich list of resources on discriminatory and liberatory design. Includes technology and social justice initiatives; fairness, accountability, and transparency initiatives; digital/design justice statements; and digital/design justice institutes and centers.