The False Promises of the Digital Revolution: How Computers transform Education, Work, and International Development in Ways that are Ecologically Unsustainable(469 Counterpoints)

The False Promises of the Digital Revolution examines what currently goes largely unnoticed because of the many important uses of digital technologies. While many people interpret digital technologies as accelerating the global rate of progress, C. A. Bowers focuses attention on how they reinforce the deep and ecologically problematic cultural assumptions of the West: the myth of progress, the substitution of data for different cultural traditions of wisdom, the connections between print and abstract thinking, the myth of individual autonomy, the conduit view of language that hides how words (metaphors) reproduce earlier misconceptions, and a Social Darwinian justification for colonizing other cultures that is now leading to armed resistance – which, in turn, strengthens the ties between corporations, the military, and the computer science industry. The book also investigates how to understand the cultural non-neutrality of digital technologies; how print and the emphasis on data undermine awareness of the tacit information pathways between cultural and natural ecologies; and how to identify educational reforms that will contribute to a more informed public about the uses of digital technologies.

Table of Contents:
Contents: The Cultural Non-Neutrality of the Digital Revolution and the Deepening Ecological Crisis – The Digital Differences Between Community-Centered and Corporate Capitalism – Why Cultures Cannot Be Reduced to Information and Data – How the Digital Revolution Contributes to the Colonization of Other Cultures and Increases the Threat of Terrorism – Making the Connections Between Educational Reforms and Democratizing the Uses of Digital Technologies.

About the Author :
C. A. Bowers (PhD, University of California) is a semi-retired professor who still writes and gives talks on educational reforms that address the cultural roots of the ecological crisis. He has written 24 books and has been invited to speak at 39 foreign and 42 American universities. His earlier book, Let Them Eat Data, has been translated into Japanese and Chinese.

Review :
"C. A. Bowers skillfully demolishes the myth that computers are always beneficial, benign, and culturally neutral. He convincingly shows how and why the abstractions of digital reality exacerbate the ecological crisis, and opens a space for rebuilding the living connections and ecological intelligence necessary for our continuing survival." (Arran Stibbe, Reader in Ecological Linguistics, University of Gloucestershire, Great Britain) "C. A. Bowers is one of few scholars who has tried to awaken computer scientists and technologists to the myths, misconceptions, and silences that contribute to the modern obsession with the development and globalization of digital technologies. Besides clarifying how the twin myths of cultural neutrality and global progress undermine ecologically sustainable cultural practices, the book contains suggestions for introducing students to the cultural transforming nature of digital technologies. This book should not be missed by computer scientists, ecologists, and educators." (Shih-yu Kuo, Professor, Institute of European and American Studies, Sinica, Taiwan) "This book offers a potent indictment of the current globalizing of online educational programs as cultural genocide that is, at the same time, ecologically suicidal. For those of us in the global South who believe in education as the nurturance of the cultural commons, Bowers' exemplary contribution is his engaged attitude of dialogue with other traditions of knowledge, which makes his book a source of inspiration in our own search for pertinence in education." (Jorge Ishizawa, Co-Director, Proyecto Andino de Tecnologias Campesinas (PRATEC), Peru) "No one has taught me more about the link between the ecological crisis and education than C. A. Bowers. When so many educators regarded computers as the newest pedagogical savior, Bowers was asking the hard questions. Bowers continues to peel away the shiny packaging of 'progress' and the myths of the new digital age. I'm delighted that Bowers is still challenging us to evaluate the 'false promises of the digital revolution.' We need this analysis now more than ever." (Bill Bigelow, Editor, 'Rethinking Schools') "The False Promises of the Digital Revolution is a powerful critique of the dangers inherent in the globalization of digital technologies. This revolution has not only engendered a marginalization and colonization of other cultures and systems of intelligibility that are necessary for civil and ecological sustainability, but has contributed to the loss of languages and cultures that cannot be appropriated through digitalization. As we enter an ominous 'post-biological' era of technological development, Bowers' message cannot be ignored. Bowers' new work is a prescient warning that should be heeded by all those committed to the survival of the planet, which I presume is all of us. A remarkable work of critical scholarship that demands all of our attention." (Peter McLaren, Distinguished Fellow in Critical Studies, Chapman University and Professor, University of California, Los Angeles; Author of 'Che Guevara, Paulo Freire and Pedagogy of Revolution')