The Silicon Doctrine

Abstract

This article explores and theorises what is here termed the Silicon Doctrine (SD), that is the legal ideology underpinning the libertarian version of the digital economy promoted (among others) by Facebook, Uber, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google. The first part of the text explores the Silicon Doctrine’s Frankensteinian ideological roots. The second part of the text scrutinises three dimensions of the Silicon Doctrine: 1) data extraction; 2) domination of the informational infrastructure; and 3) labour exploitation. This article examines the social contract proposed by Silicon Valley, evaluating its two-sided role as a disruptive breakout from the twentieth century social model, and as a continuation of the neoliberal shock doctrine.

Food for Advanced Computational Thinking

“…This shift inferred from the participants' contributions in the Crackers session has profound implications for teacher education, pedagogical practices, and education policy. Under the current paradigm, the way teachers and students engage with and learn digital technologies is determined by the tech industry largely shaped by the dominant doctrine from the Global North [4]. This is subsequently embedded in the curriculum and schools become an efficient source of skilled and low-cost workforce for Big Tech primarily.…”

“…A related but to some extent separate trend in schools worldwide is the establishment of "Maker Spaces" in K-12 education, including in Aotearoa. The "maker movement" (notice the use of pseudo-revolutionary rhetoric) has at least two easily identifiable tributaries: on the one hand, constructionist learning [3] and on the other, the tech-libertarian doctrine of Silicon Valley [4]. These two attitudes toward technology coincided by the late 20th century with the rise of the personal computer and the mainstream adoption of the Internet across the globe.…”

Filantrocapitalismo digital en educación: Covid-19, UNESCO, Google, Facebook y Microsoft

“…Son nuevos procesos de control bajo el dominio de una industria tecnológica que lidera la disrupción digital de la educación como respuesta a la emergencia global del cierre de los centros escolares. Estas transformaciones en la política educativa verifican el poder corporativo del capitalismo digital de Silicon Valley que funciona bajo una doctrina de la disrupción tecnológica (Jiménez, 2020b), y conforman lo que Williamson (2017) denomina imaginarios sociotécnicos de gobernanza digital educativa. Bajo esta visión socio-técnica, hay que identificar que la política educativa empieza a estar dominada por el uso y puesta en práctica de los macrodatos que no son neutros ni meramente técnicos.…”

Capitalismo digital: fragilidad social, explotación y solucionismo tecnológico

“…Nadie duda de la creciente centralidad de las empresas tecnológicas en el capitalismo global pero no parece que esa posición de privilegio ofrezca una alternativa a la degradación del proyecto neoliberal. Al contrario, el capitalismo digital parece exacerbar algunas de las prácticas de precarización laboral, concentración monopolista, financiarización y pérdida de soberanía política (Jiménez, 2020).…”