Consensus & Colonialism: critiquing technologies of the (de)colonial project

• Main Author: Ramos, Santos
• Format: Others
• Published: VCU Scholars Compass 2013
• Subjects: colonialism; capitalism; consensus; imperialism; decolonial; technology; occupy wall street; zapatista; Arts and Humanities; English Language and Literature
• Online Access: http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/495; http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1494&context=etd

This thesis presents an ethnography of public discourse in postcolonial, decolonial, queer, and multimedia contexts, as part of a critical analysis of imperialism in the digital age. In mixing experiences with theory and social practice, I draw on the work of activists who have already begun to mold these theories into everyday practice, paying particular attention to Occupy Wall Street, the Zapatistas of Mexico, and Southerners on New Ground (SONG)—a regionally focused non-profit organization based in the southern United States. I develop techno-seduction as a term to deconstruct the lure of technological determinism promoting static interpretations of democracy, consensus, and participation, and to describe the impact these interpretations have on intrapersonal and group identity formation.