Techno-optimism and I.T. Talk
3
Techno-optimism and I.T. Talk: Analyzing Information Technology Discourse in the context of
NGO work in India
It is increasingly difficult to pick up a newspaper, turn on the television, or access the
Internet without encountering references to the ever-increasing centrality of new information
technology. In general, we live in a world where the media constantly makes reference to its own
importance. Take for instance, early media reportage of the events of September 11. Several
televised discussions of the tragedy discussed issues of the centrality of television, the impact of
its images, the role that the internet was playing in facilitating communication amongst families
scattered all over the globe. And while some discussion involved a critical assessment of media
coverage, what emerged as central in such “town hall” type discussions as were hosted by
MSNBC, ABC or CNN, was the notion that without television or other information technology,
we would all have been a lot worse off, and unable to cope with the disaster.
This essay seeks to examine some of the broad themes that characterize the contemporary
world’s obsession with its own connectivity, and examine some of the effects of the articulation
of these themes in work contexts. The essay is based on my dissertation research, which
examined the emergence of new information technology in non-government organizations, or
NGOs, in India. NGOs have become major players in international development, particularly
‘third world’ development, over the last twenty years, so the broad communication issue that I
examined was the relationship between discourses on information technology and discourses on
NGOs. Given the increasing centrality of “techno-optimism” in developmentalist discourse, the
increasing amount of funds available globally to develop the use of the Internet in the third
world, and the proliferation of NGOs that deal with development issues, an examination of the
contexts within which such usage is actualized is certainly warranted. I use the term “I.T. talk”
Convention