I am currently a college student, but approaching a point in my career where I must think forward to employment opportunities after graduation. When I first entered college, I was weary of focusing exclusively on graphic design. As stated earlier, I wanted to learn how to use my skills in design to address social rather than individual needs. I remember being heavily criticized (in the field) for making this choice. I suppose that at an earlier age, I was considered to have great potential as both a designer and technologist. With such potential, why did I not want to focus on realizing that potential?
The web was a different place in those days. From a liberal point of view, capital was being shoveled (by the tons) into an untested and unproven economic sector. This shift of capital brought about a huge telecommunications expansion within (and through) Japan, the United States and Western Europe. A great deal of capital was invested in the way businesses produced and distributed goods. The “new economy,” borne from this technological shift, was approaching a state of maturation.
In the arts, concepts of linking, interaction, and nonlinearity brought new life into aging and bureaucratic establishments. Many artists no longer had to rely upon the old model of local councils and galleries - they could now easily reach to other artists and audiences with similar approaches and viewpoints.
In particular, I paid attention to the voices of Alex Massie, Magdalena Donea and Derek Powazek. These three individuals experimented in bridging community and literature. From a strictly literary perspective, their projects did not encompass the crux of human creativity, but sought to explore the liberatory dimensions of storytelling and (on a wider scale) creation. How could web technologies bring people’s common creativity into the spotlight rather than the creations of a minority or elite? What if the clerk, dockworker, office manager, mother or midwife wrote poetry? Some do, but imagine a society where we are all encouraged to create works of art regardless of our abilities?
In the late 1990’s, of course, the technological bubble burst. For many businesses, new productive and distributive infrastructures failed to produce sufficient income; a model based entirely upon electronic commerce was not sustainable. From a marketeer’s standpoint, the collapsing of invested capital was an economic self-correction. Society, as they would say, learned about the conditions under which these technologies were viable by plugging them into every possible outlet of commerce. The short term failure brought about a long term restructuring that would benefit the economy (and especially the global economy).
From a colonial standpoint, these new technologies enabled corporate hegemonies to base their operations upon intellectual property. After the creation and drafting of new ideas, they gained far-reaching controls over those ideas through the use of patents and copyrights. By claiming ownership over ideas, they also gained ownership over the productive realization of those ideas. Manufacturers had to rely upon investment from these hegemonies because they lacked the necessary capital to produce and maintain ownership over intellectual property. Because manufacturers’ competitive edge is based upon efficiency (that is, low cost and a high productive yield in a given block of time), corporations could send their designs and proposals off to the lowest bidder (to whom they granted the necessary manufacturing abilities).
Many nations in the global south are rich in natural resources. Historically, these nations have remained self sufficient because of their wealth in these resources. During colonial expansions of previous eras and now, during the age of globalization, these nations have indebted themselves with a buildup of infrastructure that enabled them to produce and export goods and services to the global north. Their indebtedness led to greater reliance upon foreign currencies and imports. To maintain their productive infrastructure they must now follow global trade policies and the structural adjustment programs that enforce those policies.
Sadly, as the technological bubble burst, investment in the the arts’ newfound relationship with the Internet also faded. Not all was lost, however. Alex Massie maintains her literature site, AfterDinner. Derek Powazek still directs the Fray Organization, an initiative now expanded into both music and graphic arts. Born Magazine is alive and well, featuring some of the Internet’s most interesting collaborations between graphic art and poetry. Aside from what little remains today, however, I wonder if a dream may have died.
Workers in the technology sector were convinced for years (it seems) that their jobs would never move overseas. Regarding the “new economy,” Doug Henwood claims that roughly twenty percent of the population will be employed in the creative class as time passes. The creative class specializes in research and design of new goods or services. To be accepted into this class, one would not only need to be a technological master, but also capable of bringing about competitive innovations to attract investors.
In the manufacturing sector, however, workers would have to follow a Taylorist model. So long as they worked at a quick pace with minimal wages, they would attract investors capable of providing job security and manufacturing infrastructure.
Under this paradigm, the majority of both graphic designers and computer programmers work in the manufacturing sector. Because of this, they have become subject to the rules of global markets. In the realm of my own interests, prices for graphic design services have fallen through the floor. Not only have colleges trained numbers of new designers in the United States, but many designers from outside the US are gaining access to local US markets. The need for job security has led many designers to usurp their own dignities (and wage floors) in order to meet the ever-changing expectations of clients. This, in turn, leads clients to demand lower prices. If designers overseas are willing to work for less than even the most frugal Americans, why not shift production overseas?
While speaking with people who have close connections to the nonprofit sector I have found wonderful opportunities. Today, many nonprofits are searching for people with a mixture of technical skills and social vision. Applying those skills to further the vision of such organizations gives one a great deal of job security - unless, of course, a cold wind blows through the nation’s economy.
The Clinton administration made a serious error in their economic policy. They pushed legislation in favor of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization in hopes that such trade policies would bring about rapid economic growth. The economy grew in the short term (according to the Gross Domestic Product), but in the long term, massive layoffs (and a continuing shift towards the service sector) decreased the purchasing power of most working-class Americans. The loss of the economy’s manufacturing base and the emergence of massive trade deficits brought about an economic stagnation that rarely appeared in common economic indicies such as the Gross Domestic Product. Such changes in the economic climate are being felt, however. Jobs once plentiful are no longer available; job security remains a rarity; labor and environmental standards are eroding; trade unions are under fierce attack.
I remember a vision - a dream - that many people held for the Internet. New technologies would bring about an artistic renaissance capable of liberating artists and audiences from the authoritative arms of the fine arts establishment. People (from all walks of life) had been introduced to a technology that brought before them a perception of society cast through a radically different lens. This technology allowed them to interact not only with each other, but with the art upon which they once passively reflected. This revitalization of social interaction in the arts would, in turn, breathe life into local communities and establish new sorts of communities based upon the juxtaposition of social and technological networks.
Is the Internet a participatory medium? Can the Internet create stronger democracies? A new art? The moral vision of democracy relies upon direct participation by individuals. According to the moral vision, close bonds formed by individuals are maintained through smaller, decentralized assemblies. The strength of these wider networks of assemblies relies upon diversity. Technologies that bring such diverse assemblies closer create a flurry of exchanges and conversations that encourage new combinations of ideas among participants.
Over time, however, many ideas are drowned out by such exchanges. If we have access to the same information, are we not creating a homogeneity of information? Conversely, might these technologies only bring about a mono-culture when operating under a colonial model? Might these technologies establish a new point of entry by colonial powers to influence the beliefs and traditions of peoples across the world?
Interestingly, many nonprofits are hoping to utilize these very technologies to confront the colonial pressures that commit social, economic and ecological injustice. They hold fast to a vision in which the interactive potential of the Internet can bring new life to local communities, but also establish new communities based upon points of (human) connection beyond geography. Rather than passively reflecting upon political shifts, they view society and the political process under a radically different lens.
The hope of technology is to speak directly to people suffering under unjust policies. By enabling that hope, we may all be inspired to act.
In periods of little economic growth, philanthropic foundations usually limit what they invest into the nonprofit sector. Periods of economic downturn illustrate that nonprofits cannot rely entirely upon philanthropy to provide basic social services either at home or abroad.
In face of the expansion of corporate globalism, two movements have been established to challenge this expansion. The first focuses upon the establishment of “Fair Trade.” Fair trade policies advocate standards of workers rights, environmental regulation, tariffs, and subsidies. Without a battery of standards and a direct dialog between trading partners, advocates claim that the trading climate force businesses and governments into a “race to the bottom,” the only hope to remain competitive in the global market. Unfortunately, businesses that rely upon fair trade policies need a sufficient market for exercising those policies. For example, consumers have not been willing (or able) to support the higher prices associated with fair trade coffee. This lack of “demand” has resulted in price cuts affecting the coffee’s farmers in South America. Fair trade standards, in address to this, must apply to the entire marketplace.
The second movement focuses on re-establishing economic localism. Advocates in this movement follow figures like Mahatma Ghandi and E.F. Schumacher in claiming that to rely upon outside powers for economic needs, a group locks itself into an authoritarian relationship. For instance, during its struggle for independence, India relied heavily upon British imports for salt. Interestingly, India was able to produce its own salt, but subsidies barred India from doing so. A major action by Ghandi was to lead a march to the sea with several villages to encourage Indians to produce their own salt.
These two movements are attempts to shift America’s economic base back into the domestic sphere, and, ultimately, into local communities. Domestically-set standards would then become a force to encourage other nations to localize production and set similar labor and environmental standards for their exports.
Designers, I believe, would benefit by following these movements. Alarms have been trumpeted throughout the industry in regards to falling prices. Many designers, I am sure, are worried about their own job security. Where is the push to keep design services domestic? Where is the push to establish pricing standards that will protect the wages for design work abroad?
Many organizations in the nonprofit sector would also benefit from these movements. When both design agencies and nonprofits work together under a localist, fair trade model, great strides can be made in making the lost vision of a participatory, creative Internet into a reality. This, in turn, could contribute to the revitalization of local communities and ultimately, the arts, realizing the vision of the Internet’s pioneers and visionaries.
Published: 4 years, 9 months ago
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