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The Politics of Technological Literacy

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Abstract

Technological literacy has been given official sanction; it is the end of technology education in the United States. For most technology educators, the construct is neutral, and something nobody could be ‘against’. This article situates technological literacy in its ideological context of competitive supremacy and conservative politics. In opposition to a ‘neutral’ notion of this construct, a turn toward critical technological literacy is negotiated. Critical technological literacy represents an overtly political turn toward overcoming forms of power that sustain inequities in the built world. To engage in these politics, it is argued that technology educators will necessarily have to resituate their practice within cultural studies.

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Petrina, S. The Politics of Technological Literacy. International Journal of Technology and Design Education 10, 181–206 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008919120846

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