Technicolor: Race, Technology, and Everyday Life

The cultural impact of new information and communication technologies has been a constant topic of debate, but questions of race and ethnicity remain a critical absence. Technicolor fills this gap by exploring the relationship between race and technology.

From Indian H-1B Workers and Detroit techno music to karaoke and the Chicano interneta, Technicolor's specific case studies document the ways in which people of color actually use technology. The results rupture such racial stereotypes as Asian whiz-kids and Black and Latino techno-phobes, while fundamentally challenging many widely-held theoretical and political assumptions.

Incorporating a broader definition of technology and technological practices--to include not only those technologies thought to create "revolutions" (computer hardware and software) but also cars, cellular phones, and other everyday technologies—Technicolor reflects the larger history of technology use by people of color.

Praise

A wide-ranging and consistently fascinating anthology of texts that adds complexity to notions of the “digital divide.”
--Electric Literature

New York's South Asian cabbies probably had no idea they were straddling the digital divide when they used their own CB channels to organize surprise strikes and demonstrations. But in Technicolor: Race, Technology, and Everyday Life, the editors bring together a series of essays that broaden the concept far beyond the borders of your average two-part Times series.

--New York Magazine

The book counters the alleged democratizing potential of the internet in... and offers enduring perspectives on what is required to build technology that is global and suitable to diverse populations. --OneZero

The essays in Technicolor are revolutionary... they encourage the reader to consider the material possibilities of cyberspace for people of color.

--Andre Brock, University of Iowa   

In The News