"Informed by academic research and feminist activism, this powerful work explores the intersection of patriarchy, capitalism and technology, with empowering suggestions for reforming and resisting its shattering impact."
Demonstrating how connections between digital tech, capitalism and patriarchy have a devastating effect on women’s lives, Dr Lilia Giugni’s The Thre@t is an eye-opening, timely revelation.
Alongside exposing the damaging sexism of digital capitalism, this globally-scoped tour de force also suggests ways we might resist and overcome it. What’s more, it’s written in a lucid, rousing style that reflects the author’s academic expertise (Giugni is a researcher at the Centre for Social Innovation at the University of Cambridge, with a Cambridge PhD in Politics), and her experience as a feminist activist.
“This book looks at what is perhaps the most important event of the last 30 years: the digital revolution. It looks at it through the eyes of the women who are harmed by it globally.” In this framing context, Guigni shares examples of how women are harmed by the digital revolution, citing examples of suicides caused by cyber-bullying, relating the tragedy of a young woman who jumped from a window in the wake of being exploited by her tech employer (a subcontractor of Apple), and also sharing research on more recent fields of study. Namely, “we have started to pay attention to controversial practices such as data mining, online surveillance and algorithmic bias.”
Central to the book is an understanding of the basis of patriarchy and capitalism - “both patriarchy and capitalism allocate power and resources based, respectively, on gender and class (as well as on geographical and racial differences). To put it another way: they both have their winners and losers, and it is not in the winners’ interest to change the rules of the game.”
With that in mind, and coupled with the fact that both patriarchy and capitalism share an “extraordinary capacity to adapt”, the outlook might look bleak. But that’s where Part Three of The Thre@t comes into play. Addressing that all-important question, “what can be done?”, Giugni suggests ten ways we can reform and resist this crisis. From preventing digital violence through legal reforms, to regulating algorithmic developments and supporting new unions, this illuminating, incendiary book ends on a note of empowering hope.
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