5/7 Draft Questions - Elena Orlando

(1) In "Deus ex Machina: Tradition, Technology, and the Chicanafuturist Art of Marion C. Martinez" Ramirez defines Chicanafuturism as "Chicano cultural production that attends to cultural transformations resulting from new and everyday technologies" (77). Ramirez argues that this requires redefining the human. How can humans be defined in a less fractured and hierarchical way? Who should lead this redefining process?

(2) In "Afrofuturism/Chicanafuturism: Fictive Kin," Ramirez writes "Instead of applauding science and technology or condemning them altogether, Martinez’s work shows how they have transformed Native American and Hispanic life and culture—and how one self-described “Indio-Hispanic” woman has transformed some of the tools of science and technology" (188). Both science and technology can be thought of fields that produce hegemonic knowledge used to exclude or objectify racialized peoples. How does Chicanafuturism make technology liberatory?

(3)  Search engines can create dissonance between the knowledge we seek and the knowledge privileged by hegemonic forces. Noble argues that "As the search arena is consolidated to a handful of corporations, it’s even more crucial to pay close attention to the types of biases that are shaping the information prioritized in search engines" (41). How does the ability of corporations to shape the information we are exposed to link to other Neoliberal practices? How does biased information create a foundation for further violence?

(4) In "How did social media unite and empower DREAMers?" Basma writes that the use of social media to build connections and subsequent "political socialization ultimately led to the passage of the DREAM act, which continues to benefit youth across the U.S." How can social media provide protection that allows undocumented folks the ability to break from state-based isolation?