About

What is PoliTech?

Welcome to PoliTech, a home for exploring politics and technology in the broadest sense of both dynamic terms. At PoliTech, we know that the role of technology in politics and technological political narratives stir up anxiety about the fate of democracy to many, while also sparking, for some, an idealization of a technological utopian future or a questionable belief that technology can “save us.” PoliTech provides a space for progressive, but non-partisan discussions that rejects both technophobic and idealization narratives. Instead, we take an interdisciplinary framework to cultural studies and technology studies that do not artificially separate the two. Be it through essays, software tutorials, short “reviews,” summaries, explanatory introductions, and (hopefully) future new media content, we strive to provide a non-serious approach to serious topics. Along the way, we hope to demonstrate that the humanities, social sciences, and STEM fields are not “rivals,” but necessary allies to tackle the issues that confront us and structure the networks we call “our world.”

Who is PoliTech for?

Although PoliTech was created by an interdisciplinary academic, it aims at an audience interested in how tech affects society and culture who may or may not have any theoretical background or experience with technology to educate them on tech in laymen’s terms. We also attract an audience with “hands-on” tech experience who may or may not have a humanities or social science background, or may simply be interested in how their creations contribute to our world. If we do our job right, you shouldn’t have to be familiar in both or even one to get something out of this blog.

How Does PoliTech “Work?”

We publish long (1000 to 2000 word) substantial essays every other week. These posts are usually written in advance and queued. Most are scheduled to post on weekends. This is our minimum publishing schedule. In between these biweekly posts, there may be other, shorter posts. These could include anything from a short book review of a book that an author just finished, a comment on a current event, or anything else that strikes our fancy.

Guest writers are allowed to “pitch” essays that are subjected to the mod’s approval, including rebuttal pieces. We are currently not actively looking for more staff writers, however, feel free to contact us introducing yourself, describing how you found the blog, why you want to write for us, and why you are qualified.

Comments, questions, suggestions, fact-checking, and other interactions are very appreciated! Want us to elaborate on something? Have a different interpretation or want more evidence for our arguments? Don’t be afraid to pitch in! We look forward to learning a great deal from you as well.

Hey, wasn’t this blog called “Theory Tech” or “Tech Theory?”

Yup. But we liked the punny title better (bonus points to whomever catches the theory joke in the dad pun). It does say something about our approach that all three of these titles accurately represent the content of the blog.

To reiterate do not need a theoretical or philosophical background in the slightest for this blog. Concepts in critical theory shall be peppered and summarized throughout. I do not believe in “accessibility” in the sense of comprehension but I do believe in “accessibility” in access to knowledge, including the knowledge necessary to slowly build up as you develop vocabulary in a field. As a once and current working class not-hero, I believe that so-called “elite” ideas can affect how the working class and the oppressed develop survival strategies and community practices. Maybe this blog isn’t the best place to do it, but we intend to try to write in a way that does not put the theory at the forefront of the content but some of y’all may recognize our frameworks at different points.

It goes without saying we are all influenced by our worldviews. We keep ours ambiguous aside from declaring we are invested in antiracism, gendered and sexual liberation, class struggle, and disability rights.

We will not explicitly tell you each of our founding principles and explanations of a scholar’s work or application of different methodologies should not be taken as an endorsement in all cases. I do provide a brief explanation of one aspect of my approach to technology studies — my attitude towards posthumanism — under Framework. I do not expect this to explicitly come up in blog posts and I am not interested in arguing it. I bring it up only to give a bit of background to some of my own assumptions underlying the way I see the world. Other assumptions and positions I keep to myself, and if you glean something from this blog contrary to these assumptions, I will probably be delighted.