This comment was written by Austin Prasad on 26 Oct 2015.

Speculative Media & Social Change Main Menu

Week 5 Reading Response

5738
I absolutely enjoyed this weeks reading "Race and/as Technology or How to do Things With Race" by Wendy Hui Kyong Chun. I had never thought about race in this way, but it actually makes for a compelling argument. I really liked this quote from page 39:“Most importantly, understanding race and/as technology enables us to frame the discussion around ethics rather than ontology, on modes of recognition and relation, rather than being” I think this quote speaks miles, race is a social construct. Not an actuality, there is no biological difference between people because of the color of their skin. Because of this it is vital to look at things from a relation standpoint than a being standpoint. Another quote I liked from page 40 was "at a certain level the notion of race as technology seems obvious, for race has been historically used as a tool for subjugation." I think this takes a magnifying analytical lense to the way race has been used throughout history as a power card. All the way from voting laws for blacks in America to documentation during Nazi Germany for the Jews. Before reading the article I thought it would be ridiculous, but after reading it I agree with the author. Race can be looked at as technology.

Contents of this reply:

  1. Week 5