ACTLab > Disruptive Technologies > Spring 2008 |
| main | about | project 1 | project 2 | project 3 |
|
Welcome to Cecy Correa's Disruptive Technologies course page. Project 3I wanted to explore capitalism as a disruptive technology. I am especially interested in the recent upsurge in social justice movements related to helping developing countries get on the ladder to economic development. Although I am a big supporter of movements such as the ONE Campaign, I started to wonder if converting developing countries into capitalist/consumerist/materialist societies is the answer. I was especially dissapointed by the Product (RED)™ campaign. It is quite disturbing to me that a campaign aimed at helping the poor is trademarked. The underlying message, to me, is most disturbing: consumerism is the answer. By buying these pre-approved products, a portion of the purchase will go to the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty in the developing world. Thus, we don't have to care to help, all we have to do is consume. We feel good that we're doing something positive--even though only a few cents of your purchase actually goes to the Global Fund. You would do more good by donating the $300 cost of the Motorola RED Razr to the Global Fund directly. I feel campaigns such as these promote mindless consumerism, when it was this consumerism that put developing nations at a disadvantage in the first place through our need for cheap labor to keep product prices low. For this project, I developed a fake non-profit organization that aims to alleviate world hunger through distributing free iPods and low-cost eating alternatives made of mud. Further reading: 2005 Boston Review article on US Sweatshops Nobodies, by John Bowes (New Yorker)
|