Arts
The smart city is an urban environment that uses technology to collect data and then uses those data to manage, monitor and ‘improve’ its systems and infrastructure. This, supposedly, makes life easier for its citizens and radically transforms the city. There are, however, significant social, political and cultural implications. Our guest in this episode — the first of two on the theme of Technology — is creative writer Kim Clarke, whose research argues that, far from being anything inherently positive, such data-driven technologies work to ingrain capitalist ideology at an often-unconscious level. The term ‘surveillance capitalism’ comes to mind. Kim also reads an extract from her science fiction novella, 'The Walkers,' which engages with these tensions of smart city. Using the well-known trope of teleportation, the novella explores what the individual relinquishes in order to live in an ‘improved’ environment. 'The Walkers' follows Hazel living in an alternative Hong Kong in which teleportation is the only method of transportation. Unknown to citizens, in the process of being ‘downloaded’ from one location and ‘uploaded’ to another, radical and revolutionary tendencies are removed from the individual’s personality… ––– Kim Clarke is a practice-based PhD student at Royal Holloway. Her research and creative writing focus on the relationship between urban space and technology. She has had academic essays appear in Politactics: Conversations from Everyday Analysis (Zero Books, 2016) and Cha: An Asian Literary Journal. ––– The Technecast is supported by Techne-AHRC. Every two weeks, we invite a researcher in the Humanities to introduce their own work – be it academic, artistic or anything in between. If you like this episode, please share it with your friends. You can also subscribe to the Technecast via your podcast app. This episode is produced and presented by Julien Clin.
The Technecast team is made up of Polly Hember and Julien Clin.
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