Andy Carvin: "The Digital Divide"

My belief is that justice is unobtainable without mass-literacy. In addition ,mass-literacy cannot come to fruition without a radically public system of education.

Learning is technological; from classes requiring blogs and live journals, to the simple fact, that, it is impossible to write a research paper without the internet. Even if you use print sources, where and how are these sources cataloged? Databases.

Like all access to information and in this case, access to technologies that contain information, we find that there is no new trend in the way that these technologies are distributed. Presumably, they would be distributed democratically. One might argue that distribution would never function democratically under an economic system such as capitalism. I am finding that argument particularly insufficient lately.

Andy Carvin is National Public Radio's senior product manager for online communities. He was the founding editor and former coordinator of the Digital Divide Network, an online community of more than 10,000 Internet activists in over 140 countries working to bridge the digital divide.

His work is on the “digital divide,” which he defines as “...the ever-growing gap between those people and communities who have access to information technology and those who do not.” Carvin continues to tell us the the “digital divide” is one of the most pressing civil rights issues of our time. I agree. Primarily because he walks us through the multilayered condition of the divide; most advocated for democratic technology do not. Most call for an increase in access without taking into consideration the many issues that come with unregulated access. Carvin instructs us of the following intersections: The digital divide is about:

*Access
*Content
*Literacy
*Pedagogy

Carvin explains that in order to democratize the world of the internet we must be aware of content, most of our time on-line is spent on foolishness (Facebook, online shopping) Functional adult illiteracy is at an all time high, many adults don’t read -- so what is the ‘use’ of limitless access. In terms of pedagogy, we must realize that we need people who are prepared to use technology properly, and more important, productively. The problem is not necessarily in the functionality of the internet and how people can learn the basics of tech-navigation (many people have that problem) but rather, how can the internet improve our lives and the community.

I agree that the "digital divide" is a civil rights issue that we must begin to unpack and try to fix, but we must be aware of the downfalls of populous politics.

Alexis Gumbs & Cybering Activism

Most times, I use my blog to criticize the institution that has provided me with an eduction to do so -- The University of New Hampshire; I, myself, get overwhelmed with my sociopolitical pessimism at times. We must also be conscious of the great progressive work being done at the university. A perfect example of this is the community of scholars in the Discovery program, who are facilitating great discussion among students and faculty alike.

Black Feminist, and Cyber-Activist, Alexis Gumbs recently came to UNH to talk about technology. She spoke of her diverse experience with technology and activism. Currently pursuing her Ph.d. at Duke University, Gumbs is involved in a tremendous amount of activism, including the “School of Our Lorde,” which is an institution committed to the learning and studying of the works of Audre Lorde, who was a “ Black-lesbian-feminist-sociliast-mother-of-two,” to quote Lorde in her electrifying essay, “Age, Race, Class and Sex: Women Redefining Difference.” Gumbs, like Lorde, identifies as a poet, not a political theorist. Both of them however, are examples of the interdiciplinarity of Feminism, and that “ poetry is not a luxury”

Gumbs made one point that spoke to me in particular, as it intersected with my current research. Although I was familiar with the idea of internalized capitalism, I had never linked it to my critique of pornography. In a nutshell, “internalized capitalism” refers to the subconscious practice of always “developing” something new to further productivity. Gumbs challenged us:  “just because something could be done, doesn’t mean that it should.” We know that the super-plastifided, multi-billion dollar industry of pornography is one of the star-studded results of capitalism, but we must in fact accept, that an out-of-control system of corporatism that defines our bodies through capital will eventually destroy us.

Alexis Gumbs is a phenomenal Feminist and activist. It was a pleasure to have her share her knowledge with our campus; we are in need.

Visit her website.

Cyber-Feminist Spaces

Maria Bakardijeva reports in her article “Virtual Togetherness: An Everyday-Life Perspective” on her view of virtual spaces, as “public spheres,” having the potential to be spaces for intellectual discourse and the democratic sharing of ideas.

As a Cyber-Activist, and a Feminist who has embraced the technological as a medium to produce and share intellectualism, I am compelled to agree with Bakardijeva. That is not say that these spaces don’t also have the potential to be destructive. I am thinking particularly of the amount of bigotry and hate that goes on in America’s top site for video and music sharing -- youtube. Of-course, as I have often mentioned in my work, there is no need to theorize foolishness and bigotry. Someone who comments on a video of violinist Isaac Perlman, and writes, “stupid jew” is just a waste of intelligence, nevertheless, these “wastes” divide into two polarizing groups: one in which the person is forced to react to their ignorance by means of their profound boredom and self-loathing mentality; and, one in which the person is a radical ideologue, who is an anti-semite, white-supremacist etc.

This leads me into my discussion for this entry -- comment culture in Feminist virtual spaces. What I mean by “comment culture,” is that, within virtual communities, like all communities, cultures develop on how to produce and interpret material. Youtube, for example, is a mixed bag, but often is a space with a poor comment culture, demonstrating efficiently involved commenting grounded in mindless-thinking.

Cyber-Feminist spaces such as Feministing, and Ms.blog have shown remarkable poise: monitoring comments, inviting people to participate in the discourse, and understanding the limitations of “free speech.” These type of marketing choices, I guess, let’s call them that, are necessary to foster a comment culture that can facilitate the production of knowledge, and not hinder thinking by embracing foolishness and empty-minded comments, usually motivated by bigotry.

Some of the Cyber-Feminist spaces I would recommend are:

Feministing
Ms.Blog
Latina Magazine Blog
Bitch Ph.d.