This month we were delighted to be joined by Antti Tarvainen, a fellow doctoral candidate in Global Development Studies at University of Helsinki. His work examines the innovation economy (think Steve Jobs, apps, smart everything, etc.) and the colonial violence that that underpins its expansions. We started the discussion talking about the colonial utopia history of California and by extension in Silicon Valley. We explore some of the myriad colonial imaginaries that play out in the mythology and material culture of Silicon Valley. Antti points out that “tech” does not exist only on a digital or immaterial layer but is deeply connected to physical place and space. The effect of tech on the polis is not just gentrification, but rather more akin to settler colonialism. However, it is not just the polis that is made by this tech expansion, but rural spaces and nature itself are also made. We uncover the global geography of the resources that are extracted to build the physical infrastructure and components of the tech industry. This takes us to a broader discussion of the continued spread and influence of the tech sector. Antti shares with us his experiences doing fieldwork in the Silicon Wadi and how and where settler colonialism is present as the tech industry expands in Israel and Palestine.

Links:

Anti-eviction mapping project – urban effects of the tech sector in California

Antti’s Academic Profile and for our Finnish speaking listeners Antti’s most recent article (in Finnish).