{"product_id":"technocolonialism-when-technology-for-good-is-harmful-paperback-softback-9781509559039","title":"Technocolonialism; When Technology for Good is Harmful (Paperback \/ softback) 9781509559039","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eTechnocolonialism\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eWhen Technology for Good is Harmful\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eMirca Madianou (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781509559039, Polity Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 1 November 2024\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e256 pages\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.363 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eTechnocolonialism\u003c\/i\u003e offers a rich and radical rethinking of digital humanitarianism from the perspective of postcolonial theory. Drawing on decade-long research, it compellingly demonstrates how the promise of freedom inherent in AI applications and big data turns into a practice of control, surveillance and extraction that reveals the colonial power relations at the heart of 'technologies for good'. Superbly evidenced and argued, this is a must-read that will define critical scholarship on humanitarianism as well as media and communications for years to come.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLilie Chouliaraki, London School of Economics and Political Science, and author of \u003ci\u003eThe Ironic Spectator\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eTechnocolonialism\u003c\/i\u003e gets at the very core of how humanitarianism is being redefined in the global context when AI technologies and datafication prevail. With analytical mastery, Madianou reveals the multiple hierarchies embedded in this subject. The book is a must-read, a timely intervention with interdisciplinary appeal.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRadha Sarma Hegde, New York University\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eTechnocolonialism\u003c\/i\u003e dives into the heart of the increasing digitisation and datafication of humanitarian aid. Drawing from years of ethnographic research on humanitarian infrastructures, Madianou's groundbreaking work not only attends to humanitarian and critical AI studies but also illuminates the profound impact of digital technologies on modern colonial legacies. This accessible yet theoretical work sheds light on the tangible repercussions of technocolonialism on the most vulnerable of populations, making it indispensable reading for understanding the contemporary landscape of global aid.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCheryll Soriano, De La Salle University, Manila\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"Madianou's book is an impressive feat, capturing the ever-evolving face of technology in the sector, while identifying the core evergreen undercurrents that push it forward... It is a critical read and a resonant capstone on her pioneering work over the last decade. We would do well to heed her message.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eQuito Tsui, The MERL Tech Initiative\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"Madianou has closely followed the technologization of humanitarian operations over the past decade in a way that very few scholars have, and her familiarity with the field leads to the thinking in this book. \u003ci\u003eTechnocolonialism\u003c\/i\u003e offers us a framework to interpret this field.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSusan Sreemala, \u003ci\u003eBot populi\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A powerful and well-documented examination of how digital technologies are transforming humanitarianism in ways that reinforce colonial structures.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJosué García Veiga, \u003ci\u003eLSE Review of Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"In the humanitarian sector, Madianou has found an urgent analogue for the social, political, and cultural institutions that structure everyday life, and how those institutions engage digital technology to 'make life better' without contemplating the power dynamics that undergird the application of technology\".\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRobert Lundberg, \u003ci\u003eAnthropological Forum\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Madianou's arguments are timely and extensively researched... \u003ci\u003eTechnocolonialism \u003c\/i\u003eserves as a valuable resource for current and future scholars of cultural studies, media studies, and development studies, amongst others, as it offers critique on how colonial power structures are embedded in humanitarian technology.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eEirene Nsudoon Binabiba, \u003ci\u003eCultural Studies\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eTechnocolonialism \u003c\/i\u003eis a landmark contribution to the critical study of technology, media, and humanitarianism. It deepens the conversation on digital inequality by situating it within centuries-long structures of coloniality and offers a vital corrective to the celebratory discourses that pervade humanitarian innovation. For scholars of media and communication, the book revitalizes debates around imperialism and dependency in the digital age; for practitioners and policymakers, it demands a reckoning with the ethical contradictions of 'innovation for good.' Madianou's lucid prose, rigorous fieldwork, and theoretical acuity make this an essential text for anyone concerned with the politics of digital infrastructures and the futures they enable—or foreclose.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJilian York, International Journal of Communication\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eTechnocolonialism \u003c\/i\u003eaccomplishes a rare feat. It names what had remained fragmented, sensed, or unsaid in critical scholarship on digital aid. It offers a framework for analyzing the entanglements of care, computation, and coloniality. In doing so, Madianou does not call for better technology. She calls for a rethinking of aid itself, its histories, its hierarchies, and its claims to moral authority… Her critique is not merely diagnostic. It is generative. It asks us to rethink how infrastructures make worlds, and what kinds of worlds we are willing to sanction in the name of helping... A field-shaping contribution.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAbdellatif El Aidi, Dialogues on Digital Society\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eTechnocolonialism\u003c\/i\u003e offers a thorough and fascinating account that rewards reading and is likely to become a vital reference in debates on digital humanitarianism, datafication and coloniality.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMiren Gutierrez, Dialogues on Digital Society\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"At a time when colonial violence is visibly ongoing, from aggressive resource extraction such as cobalt mining in the Congo to settler-colonial violence and genocide in Gaza, the book reveals how colonial logics continue to shape contemporary systems of power, including those built in the name of humanitarian care.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAmir Payberah, Dialogues on Digital Society\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eTechnocolonialism\u003c\/i\u003e offers a theoretically rigorous and empirically grounded critique of digital humanitarianism... Drawing on a decade of fieldwork, Madianou transforms abstract debates into tangible insights that illuminate how technologies of care become infrastructures of control.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eYijun Yao and Yifei Zhao, \u003ci\u003eJournal of Information Technology and Politics\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the 2026 International Communication Association Outstanding Book Award\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the 2026 Philosophy, Theory and Critique (PTC-ICA) Book Award\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith over 300 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, and with emergencies and climate disasters becoming more common, AI and big data are being championed as forces for good and as solutions to the complex challenges of the aid sector.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis book argues, however, that digital innovation engenders new forms of violence and entrenches power asymmetries between the global South and North. Madianou develops a new concept, technocolonialism, to capture how the convergence of digital developments with humanitarian structures, state power and market forces reinvigorates and reshapes colonial legacies. The concept of technocolonialism shifts the attention to the constitutive role that digital infrastructures, data and AI play in accentuating inequities between aid providers and people in need.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDrawing on ten years of research on the uses of digital technologies in humanitarian operations, the book examines a range of practices: from the normalization of biometric technologies and the datafication of humanitarian operations to experimentation in refugee camps, which are treated as laboratories for technological pilots. In so doing, the book opens new ground in the fields of humanitarianism and critical AI studies, and in the debates in postcolonial studies, by highlighting the fundamental role of digital technologies in reworking colonial genealogies.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eAbbreviations\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003e1.   The Logics of Digital Humanitarianism\u003cbr\u003e2.   Biometric Infrastructures\u003cbr\u003e3.   Extracting Data and the Illusion of Accountability\u003cbr\u003e4.   Surreptitious Experimentation: Enchantment, Coloniality and Control\u003cbr\u003e5.   The Humanitarian Machine: Automating Harm\u003cbr\u003e6.   Mundane Resistance: Contesting Technocolonialism in Everyday Life\u003cbr\u003eConclusion: Technocolonialism as Infrastructural Violence\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA Note on Research Methods\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgements\u003cbr\u003eNotes\u003cbr\u003eReferences\u003cbr\u003eIndex\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSubject Areas: Society \u0026amp; culture: general [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on Society \u0026amp; culture: general\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22Society%20\u0026amp;%20culture:%20general%20%5BJF%5D%22\"\u003eJF\u003c\/a\u003e]\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Polity","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52173699121432,"sku":"9781509559039","price":16.59,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/2037\/5320\/files\/9781509559039.jpg?v=1781167467","url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/technocolonialism-when-technology-for-good-is-harmful-paperback-softback-9781509559039","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}