Antipoverty activist stops in Bloomington to discuss new book

Inside the auditorium of the Monroe County Public Library on Saturday , Virginia Eubanks discussed her new book and ongoing work dealing with the relationship of technology and social justice.

Eubanks is an antipoverty activist and welfare rights organizer working in Troy, New York.

She is finishing up her tour for her book, Digital Dead End: Fighting for Social Justice in the Information Age, which was published in 2011.

Her book addresses the fact that being  a digital expert means knowing how technology impacts one’s life Eubanks said.

“It is not about teaching people how to use Word, but to create the opportunity where the people can understand how technology affects the social injustice,” she explained.
Coming from Midwest cities, such as Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison, Eubanks visited Bloomington before making her final stop in Pittsburgh.

Receiving the invitation from the MCPL and the IU School of Library and Information Science, Eubanks said she had to stop at Bloomington.

“Bloomington is doing interesting things around the town,” she said. “The libraries in cities are becoming the defacto in learning communities for technology. That is why I am glad to talking at a public library.”

Launching into her discussion, Eubanks talked first about her book and what she has been doing since its publication.

Eubanks said her first framework of the digital divide split people into two groups, the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots.’

“My proudest line in the book was, ‘I was wrong’,” she said of her idea.

With research and working with the people of Troy, Eubanks realized that her idea did not match the community she was in.

“I thought that women of low income and immigrants should be in the have not category with access and experience to technology,” Eubanks said. “On the contrary, everyone had technology in the community but it was how technology was used that caused the social injustice.”

She realized that though many women used technology, it was in jobs that paid low wages, required impossible shifts and caused health concerns.

“We have the idea of the next magical app, that will come and save all of our problems,” Eubanks said. “Technology is not a destiny. Social justice never happens by accident.”

Mother and daughter Denise and Krista Rumshlag, respectively, enjoyed the talk, both interested in the digital divide topic.

“I work in education and believe that the digital divide is seen in Indiana,” Krista said.
In addition to her work as an activist, Eubanks is an Associate Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of Albany in New York.

She began her activism work in Santa-Cruz, California until moving to New York.
Eubanks said she has always liked helping people.

“While in Madison I saw someone I went to high school with,” she said, “When I told him I was on tour, he said, ‘Yes, I remember you were always an activist.