Democratic governance of technology: myth or reality ? With Dr Mar Hicks from the University of Virginia School of Data Science
Mon Nov 03 2025
Welcome back to the last episode of this special series exploring the relationship between power and technology!
We now know that power and technology are intertwined and led to the rise of techno-oligarchy in the United States. Beyond structural impacts on democracy and the power structure that allowed this to happen, I wondered if democratic governance of technology was even possible considering this power structure, on top of intense lobbying from Big Tech companies, their wealth, and the inevitability rhetoric they push. Beyond that, I wanted to talk with an expert about the impacts on gender minorities like women and non-binary people, as well as other marginalized communities.
To answer these questions and tell us some dad jokes, I am welcoming Dr Mar Hicks, an associate professor with tenure at the University of Virginia in the School of Data Science. Dr Hicks is a historian of technology, gender and modern Europe, working on the history of women in computing,and technology powered inequalities. Two books Dr Hicks has published are available everywhere, the first one is titled “Programmed Inequality: How Britain Discarded Women Technologists and Lost Its Edge in Computing”, and the most recent one titled “Your Computer Is on Fire”, a book on the inequality, marginalization, and biases in our technological systems. I hope you enjoy this episode.
Get Dr Mar Hicks books: https://mitpress.mit.edu/author/mar-hicks-23807/
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Welcome back to the last episode of this special series exploring the relationship between power and technology! We now know that power and technology are intertwined and led to the rise of techno-oligarchy in the United States. Beyond structural impacts on democracy and the power structure that allowed this to happen, I wondered if democratic governance of technology was even possible considering this power structure, on top of intense lobbying from Big Tech companies, their wealth, and the inevitability rhetoric they push. Beyond that, I wanted to talk with an expert about the impacts on gender minorities like women and non-binary people, as well as other marginalized communities. To answer these questions and tell us some dad jokes, I am welcoming Dr Mar Hicks, an associate professor with tenure at the University of Virginia in the School of Data Science. Dr Hicks is a historian of technology, gender and modern Europe, working on the history of women in computing,and technology powered inequalities. Two books Dr Hicks has published are available everywhere, the first one is titled “Programmed Inequality: How Britain Discarded Women Technologists and Lost Its Edge in Computing”, and the most recent one titled “Your Computer Is on Fire”, a book on the inequality, marginalization, and biases in our technological systems. I hope you enjoy this episode. Get Dr Mar Hicks books: https://mitpress.mit.edu/author/mar-hicks-23807/