Pellow and Park - The Silicon Valley of Dreams

"The Political Economy of Work and Health in Silicon Valley” examines Silicon Valley from an environmental justice perspective, and in particular examines gender roles as related to the Silicon Valley workforce and the environmental movement.  Jobs in the electronics industry are particularly dangerous because of the rate at which technology is developing, and as technology is generated and improved, we have not learned to deal with the byproducts of creating this technology, like the arsenic and gallium used in computer chips. Many high risk jobs hire women, people of color, and foreign workers because they can pay them less, which impacts the demographics of the people directly at risk from hazardous workspaces. Efforts have been made to cover up the impact of these chemicals on workers. Women are often chosen on behalf of the PR parts of the firms to present a “kinder, gentler” face of the firm to the public, while men are making the economic and political decisions behind them, and are often uncooperative in investigations.  Even if the link between chemicals in the workplace and illnesses can be proved, because the firms prey on vulnerable populations, workers have often signed away their legal right to sue the companies.

“The Political Economy of Work and Health in Silicon Valley” is a chapter of The Silicon Valley of Dreams written by David Naguib Pellow, a professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota, and Lisa Sun-Hee Park, a sociology department colleague at Minnesota, both of whom have extensive writing on the intersectionality of environmental science with various cultures. Lisa Sun-Hee park is currently researching immigration healthcare after the Affordable care act. David Naguib Pellow (45) has recently been harassed by the FBI for defending one of his students implicated in terrorism through an animal rights activist organization. The Silicon Valley of Dreams debuted in 2002 and seems written for professionals and the general public but could be drawn on by scholars as well. The language is very accessible for people who might not be academics.

Reviews of The Silicon Valley of Dreams are largely positive, praising Park and Pellow’s work for critiquing the prevalent view that holds Silicon Valley and the rapid production of technology as a panacea to economic and environmental challenges.  The Silicon Valley of Dreams is also praised for offering practical solutions and remaining hopeful in the face of the many challenges that the underside of Silicon Valley faces exposed in the book. As I did research into the challenges to Pellow and Park’s work, I noticed that a lot of books did critique the narrative that Silicon Valley is a benefit to society, however Pellow and Park’s work is unique in that is closely examines the impacts on women and minorities in a way that is accessibly to the general public.

“System Error: Labour Precarity and Collective Organizing at Microsoft” by Enda Brophy of Queen’s University agrees that women and minorities are exploited in Silicon Valley but draws parallels to the early auto industry and shows that if inclusivity and organization follow current trends, that conditions will continue to improve in Silicon Valley. Environmental Racism and Locally Undesirable Land Uses: A Critique of Environmental Justice Theories and Remedies by Daniel Kevin, critiques the environmental justice movement as a whole, arguing for colorblind environmental policies in contrast to Park and Pellow’s calls to acknowledge minorities and women and actively advance them. In contrast to Park and Pellow as well, critique tend to be very inaccessable to the general public.