The Redirect: Technology after Capitalism

April 25th, 2019 7-8PM

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Phyllis Wattis Theater
151 Third Street San Francisco, CA 94103

A collaboration between Public Books and SFMOMA’s Public Knowledge initiative, this discussion explores how tech might be redirected beyond capitalism, towards an alternative future. Could new technologies, whether imagined or real, point to a shared future of economic cooperation and democratic decision-making? Could new technologies prioritize addressing human needs and the greater threat of climate change? Or has history shown us that our faith in tech is misplaced—that its abuses and manipulations outweigh its potential to liberate? Referencing science fiction, art, design, and beyond, the panelists investigate the possibilities of a new technological dawn.

Panelists:

Finn Brunton, assistant professor in Media, Culture, and Communication at NYU Steinhardt, author of Digital Cash: The Unknown History of the Anarchists, Utopians, and Technologists Who Created Cryptocurrency

Kim Stanley Robinson, writer of science fiction, author of the trilogy Red Mars and New York 2140.

Andrea Steves, curator, Museum of Capitalism

Xiaowei Wang, designer, developer and dreamer, creative director at Logic Magazine.

Caitlin Zaloom, editor-in-chief of Public Books (moderator)

Event site