Apple's Performative Sustainability and the Global Veil

By Anonymous


By Camryn Langley

Hammer and Park utilize Du Bois' concept of the Veil and his theory about the relationship between capitalism and colonialism to expose the tech industry's abstraction of post-colonial labor forces and resources.

The Du Boisian veil creates a “colonial other [that] is nonhuman, while the colonizer is able to utilize violence in order to dominate, dispose, and extract” (Hammer and Park 2021: 229).

Technological advancement is rooted in these colonial relationships and has become so incorporated into the daily lives of colonial powers that there is “an investment in the veil that prevents coming to terms with the supply chain and its dramatic human and natural toil” (Hammer and Park 2021: 231).

Technology has become entrenched in the functioning of society in many colonial powers, so much so that life without technology is unimaginable for many.

However, as Hammer and Park note, technology has developed because of the labor and resources of people of color.

The first picture is a screenshot from the Apple website. Apple uses lithium-ion batteries in all their products.

They suggest a concern for the environment and have set up a recycling program, however there is no information about the origins of the lithium used for the battery. The second photo  is of a Lithium mine in South America. Lithium mining is devastating for the environment "the extraction process consumes huge amounts of water in a region that gets less than an inch of rainfall a year”(Katwala: 2019).

Apple benefits from the Veil as they are able to give an appearance of sustainability but abstract the reality of the production of their product.

Apple’s sustainability program is also an example of virtue signaling in which the public is given the impression that the company is participating in a beneficial practice when in reality it does not reflect the company’s actions.

However, given the omnipresence and necessity of Apple products, the investment in the feigned sustainability further dehumanizes the colonial other and silences the truth of the environmental repercussions of lithium mining.


References:

David, Maisel. 2019. Untitled. From Wired. Retrieved March 5, 2022 (https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-copper-mining-atacama-desert).


Hammer, R. and Park, T., 2021. "The Ghost in the Algorithm: Racial Colonial Capitalism and the Digital Age." Political Power and Social Theory, 38, 221–249. 


Katwala, Amit. 2019. “The Devastating Environmental Impact of Technological Progress”. Wired, October 27, 2019. Retrieved March 5th, 2022 (https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-copper-mining-atacama-desert).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chains of Power and Presidential Portraits

By
Image
  A presidential portrait is a tradition which solidifies a president's position in history as a person but also a symbol of America and democracy. Because of the exceptional symbolic weight of a presidential portrait it is a good image to analyze when considering power, particularly the concept of the King's two bodies. In interpreting the above portrait I will use Reed's definition of interpretation, "...Understanding the relationship between means, ends, and projects possessed by actors and used to direct their actions is interpretation" (Reed 2017:92). Unlike many other portraits which show a president staring into the distance, Obama's portrait shows him making direct eye-contact with the viewer. The portrait is life sized which adds to the feeling that the viewer is engaged in a conversation which Obama is listening to. Obama leaning forward slightly with his legs in an open stance suggests he is open to listening. By connecting with the view
Read more

US-China Hostility and National Civil Solidarity

By
Image
     The image above accompanies a piece in the Global Times titled, "US irrational hostility toward China a coldly rational ploy". Accordingly, the image depicts a charged face-off of between a bald eagle and panda bear, meant to represent the United States and China respectively. The eagle's brow is sharply furrowed, pupil directed menacingly at its opponent. Its beak is set in a grimace, harsh lines contributing to its severe disposition. Across the border, the normally docile image of a panda is perverted with the black spot over its eye distorted to resemble a knitted brow. The edge of its mouth is drawn down in an angry frown as it glares at the eagle. The two animals are set against a backdrop of the American and Chinese flags, the two countries literally competing for space within the frame. A sharp diagonal line cuts through the tension, separating the two opposing sides. In this struggle, the red, white, and blue of the American flag appear to overpower the red
Read more

Jesus for President? Civil Religion in American Politics

By
       https://images.app.goo.gl/fPSPyuM49wqkXw279   This image depicts a political rally where a large crowd of people are gathered together outside. Three of them are  holding American flags, two of which are raised in the air and one where only the top corner is visible. One person holds a large white sign with "JESUS" written on it in big red letters. The numbers 201 are visible in dark blue, with the last number being obscured. The faces of most of the people are very blurred, but their hats, coats, glasses and hooded jackets are visible. One person's eyes are looking directly at the camera, and they are wearing glasses and a baseball cap, but the second half of their face is obscured.  A tree is visible beside the crowd of people but it is out of focus. This image depicts a rally where American Christianity is being represented as a political identity through the lens of civil religion and religious nationalism.    In Robert N. Bellah's essay "Civil Religio
Read more