In the United States, the 1980's and 90's saw successive waves of deindustrialization sweep our economic landscape, as globalization and neoliberal economic policy drove US manufacturing overseas. This was followed by the dotcom boom, and the growth of a new order driven by information technology.
In this new, digital, age, those with the skills, access and training flourished, while the millions of Americans who previously comprised the working class lagged further and further behind.
This chasm has widened in the 21st century, as measures of income and wealth inequality have increased and economic mobility has precipitously declined. The opportunities created by technological innovation are nearly limitless, we are told, and yet the benefits of such innovation are granted more and more to a select few.
Policymakers are not ignorant of this problem, though a solution has been less forthcoming. An oft-touted bipartisan proposal comes in the form of skills training. Both Republican and Democratic leaders for the past several decades have advanced the notion that bringing the economically disempowered into the information age is as simple as a coding boot camp. The results of these efforts have been mixed, at best.
This week, The Buzz is joined by Daniel Greene, Assistant Professor of Information Studies at the University of Maryland, whose 2021 book, The Promise of Access, explores how our public institutions, namely schools and libraries, have been shaped by the doctrine of technology training as a means of economic mobility.
The Promise of Access
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Intro/Outro Music: Focal Point/Young Community
Courtesy of Epidemic Sound