{"product_id":"insolvent-isbn-9780262545600","title":"Insolvent","description":"\u003cb\u003eHow we can enact meaningful change in computing to meet the urgent need for sustainability and justice.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe deep entanglement of information technology with our societies has raised hope for a transition to more sustainable and just communities—those that phase out fossil fuels, distribute public goods fairly, allow free access to information, and waste less. In principle, computing should be able to help. But in practice, we live in a world in which opaque algorithms steer us toward misinformation and unsustainable consumerism. \u003ci\u003eInsolvent \u003c\/i\u003eshows why computing’s dominant frame of thinking is conceptually insufficient to address our current challenges, and why computing continues to incur societal debts it cannot pay back. Christoph Becker shows how we can reorient design perspectives in computer science to better align with the values of sustainability and justice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBecker\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003epositions the role of information technology and computing in environmental sustainability, social justice, and the intersection of the two, and explains why designing IT for \u003ci\u003ejust sustainability\u003c\/i\u003e is both technically and ethically challenging . Becker goes on to argue that computing could be aided by \u003ci\u003ecritical friends\u003c\/i\u003e—disciplines that draw on critical social theory, feminist thought, and systems thinking—to make better sense of its role in society. Finally, Becker demonstrates that it is possible to fuse critical perspectives with work in computer science, showing new and fruitful directions for computing professionals and researchers to pursue.Acknowledgments vii\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction: Just Sustainability Design 1\u003cbr\u003eI Is Computing Insolvent?\u003cbr\u003e1 The Design of Sustainability 29\u003cbr\u003e2 Just Sustainabilities and the Debts of Computing 57\u003cbr\u003e3 The Myths of Computing 77\u003cbr\u003e4 Problemism: The Insolvency of Computational Thinking 109\u003cbr\u003eII Restructuring\u003cbr\u003e5 Computing's Critical Friends 127\u003cbr\u003e6 Software is Never Neutral: How Do Values Become Facts? 153\u003cbr\u003e7 People are More Than Rational: Beware the Normative Fallacy 167\u003cbr\u003e8 Problems are Framings: The Discordant Pluralism of Just Sustainability Design 193\u003cbr\u003eIII Reorienting Systems Design\u003cbr\u003e9 Leverage Points for Change: From Insolvent Computing to Just Sustainability Design 213\u003cbr\u003e10 Critical Requirements Practice 225\u003cbr\u003e11 Searching for Just, Sustainable Design Decisions 255\u003cbr\u003e12 A Silicone Ring: Social Responsibility and Collective Action 279\u003cbr\u003eConclusion: This Changes Computing 297\u003cbr\u003eNotes 307\u003cbr\u003eReferences 323\u003cbr\u003eIndex 371“Becker provides rich ideas for reframing computing as an expression of the current political economy rather than a neutral set of tools.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Bonnie Nardi, coauthor of \u003ci\u003eHeteromation, and Other Stories of Computing and Capitalism\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Offering an alternative perspective to the intellectual practices shaping computing, \u003ci\u003eInsolvent \u003c\/i\u003emarks a watershed in the growing literature on the world created by computer technology.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Andrew Feenberg, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Ruthless Critique of Everything Existing\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“In a forceful and epically transdisciplinary critique, Becker deconstructs the rationalist, objectivist myths that undergird computing culture, demonstrating how they stand in the way of progress, sustainability, and justice.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e— Amy J. Ko, Professor, University of Washington\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eInsolvent\u003c\/i\u003e hits the nail on the head. Timely, uncomfortable, and pointing in the right direction, Becker’s book is compulsory reading for engineers, designers, and everyone interested in thinking about technology.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Mark Coeckelbergh, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Political Philosophy of AI \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eAI Ethics\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eChristoph Becker is Associate Professor of Information, Director of the Digital Curation Institute, and a member of the School of the Environment at the University of Toronto. He is also cofounder of the Karlskrona Initiative for Sustainability Design.","brand":"The MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303255134437,"sku":"NP9780262545600","price":55.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780262545600.jpg?v=1767730086","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/insolvent-isbn-9780262545600","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}