What you will learn on this course?

This course has been designed to help you discover ways to challenge power and inequality in the technology sector. The ‘big question’ the course poses is: What can you do to challenge power and promote justice in the technology sector?

You will learn a range of tools and techniques to help you plan and run your own tech-justice activist campaign. Throughout the course, we will draw on two working examples of activist campaigns. Firstly, a case authored and granted permission to use by Whose Knowledge? on #VisibleWikiWomen. This campaign seeks to add and improve profiles of prominent women on Wikipedia. Secondly, our own summary of the United Tech and Allied Workers (UTAW)’s approach to addressing employee surveillance. These examples bring together technology and other social justice issues (like labour rights or women’s rights), reflecting the fact that tech activism is one part of broader social activism.

Your task in this course is to walk through the construction of your own campaign on an issue related to technology & equality. We will guide you through the process.

During Week 1 you will get started learning about activism in tech and you will begin to plan your campaign. By the end of this week, you will be able to:

• Explore what activism means to different individuals and groups engaged in tech justice work
• Discuss issues and forms of activism that resonate with you
• Compare examples of activism challenging oppressive technologies and inequality in the tech industry
• Identify allies to support your campaign

In Week 2, you will further develop your campaign to the point where your ideas can come to life. By the end of Week 2 you will be able to:

• Specify SMART aims and objectives for your activist campaign
• Create a care and self-care plan
• Develop campaign actions and interventions
• Contribute to ongoing activist tech communities and campaigns

This is a hands-on course, so the more you can engage with the prompts and activities, the better. Watch out for discussion prompts throughout the course and get ready to be active in the conversations! The more you engage in completing the tasks set and using the comments sections to learn from each other, the more everyone will get from the experience.

Are there any aspects of the course you are particularly looking forward to, or things you are most keen to be able to do? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.