Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C16303
Notes:
Chapter 6 in Rafiq Dossani (ed.), Telecommunications reform in India. Quorum Books, Westport, Connecticut. 258 pages., Author describes a proposal wherein the state should build 5,000 communications centers or "work centers" and link these to the rail and fiber infrastructures. Every citizen can access a telephone, the Internet, health care and education. "People stay within the traditional semirural or rural infrastructure, within their 'circle,' rather than moving away from their families to the overcrowded cities."
Tanaji, Gaikwad Shridhar (author), Desai, Sudhir B. (author), Kolekar, A.B. (author), and Department of Technology (YCSRD), Shivaji University Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India.
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2016
Published:
India: Indian Institute of Technology; Bombay; India
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 162 Document Number: D08050
11 pages., Via online article, A “digital revolution” in agriculture is underway. Advanced technologies like sensors, artificial intelligence, and robotics are increasingly being promoted as a means to increase food production efficiency while minimizing resource use. In the process, agricultural digitalization raises critical social questions about the implications for diverse agricultural labourers and rural spaces as digitalization evolves. In this paper, we use literature and field data to outline some key trends being observed at the nexus of agricultural production, technology, and labour in North America, with a particular focus on the Canadian context. Using the data, we highlight three key tensions observed: rising land costs and automation; the development of a high-skill/low-skilled bifurcated labour market; and issues around the control of digital data. With these tensions in mind, we use a social justice lens to consider the potential implications of digital agricultural technologies for farm labour and rural communities, which directs our attention to racial exploitation in agricultural labour specifically. In exploring these tensions, we argue that policy and research must further examine how to shift the trajectory of digitalization in ways that support food production as well as marginalized agricultural labourers, while pointing to key areas for future research—which is lacking to date. We emphasize that the current enthusiasm for digital agriculture should not blind us to the specific ways that new technologies intensify exploitation and deepen both labour and spatial marginalization.
Zhu, Bi Hua (author), Zhu, Ying Li (author), and School of Life Sciences, Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University, Nanchang, China
School of Communication and Electronics, Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University, Nanchang, China
Format:
conference papers
Publication Date:
2012
Published:
International: Trans Tech Publications Ltd.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 163 Document Number: D08175
