The Dazzle of the Digital is written in the context of digital technology’s inextricable link with progress and modernity in India, with the COVID pandemic in the backdrop. Digital technology such as smartphones and the internet exemplify the popular ideal of a modernity where the proliferation of data and information seamlessly translates into knowledge and value. The authors attempt to wrestle with this impulsive conflation of the digital with the modern, and argue that the former can sometimes retard progress rather than foster it. They provide examples from various spheres – ranging from public service delivery to private markets – to unpack the pitfalls of a blinkered view on modernity. The book presents an objective take on the potential of digital technology, written with the hope that it will prompt greater societal reflection on technology as a lever for advancement, at a time when the march of everything digital is inexorable.
Author(s): Meghna Bal, Vivan Sharan
Series: Routledge Focus on Modern Subjects
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 146
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Contents
Figures
Tables
Series Editor's Foreword
The Work
Notes
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction - The Dazzle of the Digital
Four problematic characterisations
Economic growth and modernity
Rebalancing public debate
Note
Bibliography
2. A Brief History of the Politics of Technology in India
Nehru sets the stage for India's longstanding tryst with technology
Why digital technology and politics make great bedfellows
Technology as the only means to navigate structural deficits
Notes
Bibliography
3. Defaulting to e-Governance
Digital makes governance harder
The problem with numbers and the ready resource curse
Blockchain-based land titling - an even more modern panacea for digital governance
A blueprint for development: issues at the centre, technology at the margins
Notes
Bibliography
4. Is Data Is the New Oil?
Data as a palliative for India's China envy
Data as the new oil
The bipolar digital economy
Platforms and Innovation - Twin pillars of digital markets
Unintended consequences on policy design
Data, Davos and false hope
Notes
Bibliography
5. Digital in the Time of COVID
Technology as the sole means for remote surveillance
Designed for mistrust
Battling covid with biometrics and data
The mechanics of AEPS
Transacting for survival
Overcoming the digital divide
Note
Biblography
6. Conclusion - Stepping Back to Leap Forward
Design for development, not for digital
Note
Bibliography
Index
