The perils of 'tech for good' lie in its politics of helping
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5260993 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lisa Ann Richey (0000-0003-3116-2531, Copenhagen Business School, corresponding author), Adam Moe Fejerskov (0000-0002-4132-8200, Danish Institute for International Studies) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Publication date | 2024-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Big Data & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2053-9517 • E-ISSN: 2053-9517 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/20539517241267718 |
| OpenAlex | W4403228784 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 31 |
Vexing political questions of power, inequality and coloniality permeate the tech sector and its growing use of global 'virtual' assembly lines that see them penetrate even refugee camps in efforts to extract value. As a response, tech companies have been expanding non-commercial activities within a presumed framework of humanitarianism, in part, trying to outweigh the negative implications of unjust business practices often characterised by third-party avoidance of responsibility. This commentary focuses on tech companies' engagement with people in the Global South - not as recipients of tech beneficence - but as labourers who make tech possible. First, we document why companies are brought into humanitarian crises, and then we briefly chart examples of the practices of tech companies in the Global South. Then, we argue that 'tech for good', often presumed as altruistic, instead reproduces an expansive history of questionable corporate social responsibility efforts that sustain inequalities more than assuaging them. We conclude by reflecting on the impact of commodifying compassion for humanitarian helping and argue that tech companies should stop trying to 'help' through self-perceived altruistic activities. Instead, corporations should focus on remaking their core business practices in an image of justice, protection, and equal value creation, particularly in contexts characterised by vulnerability
Compassion · Corporate social responsibility · Economic Justice · Law and economics · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Sociology · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Law · Mining and Resource Management · Social Psychology · Water Governance and Infrastructure
In Good Company
Finding the “Sweet Spot”
Business–NGO Collaboration in a Conflict Setting
Inequalities and content moderation
Nonhuman humanitarianism
The poverty of ethical AI
Batman Saves the Congo
Google’s Tech Philanthropy
Humanitarianism’s New Business Model
Cobalt mining and the corporate outsourcing of responsibility in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Eclipsed by the halo
Geographic perspectives on development goals
The Biometric Assemblage
Recasting the ‘New Actors in Development’ Research Agenda
Introduction
Why are humanitarian sentiments profitable and what does this mean for global development
Corporate Social Responsibility Theories
Data Colonialism
Search algorithms, hidden labour and information control
Politics of data reuse in machine learning systems
When data is capital
Refugees in the IT Sector
Digitisation and Sovereignty in Humanitarian Space
Humanitarian ignorance
The responsibilization of "development consumers" through cause-related marketing campaigns
Why does capitalism feel so right? Ethical imaginaries of prison labour and sisterhood solidarity
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |