Siliconization, technofascism, and their unbecomings

In this response essay, I reflect upon how some of the central themes of my book Silicon Valley Imperialism: Techno Fantasies and Frictions in Postsocialist Times (Duke University Press, 2024) speak to the contemporary technofascist moment, as well as ongoing practices of attempting to de–siliconize the future. I also offer fascist transformations currently transpiring on both sides of the former Iron Curtain, as well as the landscapes of gentrification upon which they take place, a deeper and transnational genealogy–one rooted in historic technologies of racial banishment, heteromasculinism, and anticommunism. At the same time, I celebrate the ongoing freedom struggles against fascism, racial banishment, and genocidal technologies that organizers in both the United States and Romania continue to commit themselves to, all in an interconnected effort to unbecome Silicon Valley. Throughout this essay, I engage with the insightful comments made by Kavita Dattani, Michele Lancione, Manissa M. Maharawal, Nassim Parvin, Gillian Rose, and Daniela Rosner here, each of whom offer brilliant interventions and generous reflections in this forum.