The Eyes of the World by James H. Smith


ISBN
9780226774350
Published
Binding
Hardcover
Pages
360
Dimensions
152 x 229 x 28mm

The Eyes of the World focuses on the lives and experiences of Eastern Congolese people involved in extracting and transporting the minerals needed for digital devices.

The digital devices that define our era exist not only because of Silicon Valley innovations, but due to a burgeoning trade in dense, artisanally mined substances like tantalum, tin, and tungsten. As James H. Smith argues, in the Eastern DR Congo these minerals are also socially dense, fueling movement and collaborations that encompass diverse actors, geographies, temporalities, and dimensions.

Based on long-term research, The Eyes of the World examines how Eastern Congolese understand the work in which they are engaged, the forces pitted against them, and the total process through which substances in the earth and forest are converted into commodified resources. Smith shows how the experience of violent dispossession has fueled a bottom-up social theory that valorizes movement and collaboration-one that directly confronts tracking initiatives designed to ensure that the minerals in digital devices are "conflict free" by excluding certain actors and places. While global watch groups espouse Western-style bureaucratic methods that prioritize transparency and purity, Smith explains why Congolese understand these exclusionary interventions as potentially violent and predatory efforts to further separate them and their histories from supposedly "clean" technologies.
EOFY 2025 Book Frenzy
139.39
RRP: $163.99
15% off RRP


This product is unable to be ordered online. Please check in-store availability.
Instore Price: $163.99
Enter your Postcode or Suburb to view availability and delivery times.

Other Titles by James H. Smith

Introduction to Special Relativity
19.99
16.99
15% Off

You might also like

All About Love
bell hooks
27.99
23.79
15% Off
Mean Streak
35.99
29.99
17% Off
Always Was Always Will Be
19.99
16.99
15% Off
The Psychopath Test
24.99
21.24
15% Off
The Will To Change Men Masculinity And Love
32.99
28.04
15% Off
Squat
36.99
31.44
15% Off

RRP refers to the Recommended Retail Price as set out by the original publisher at time of release.
The RRP set by overseas publishers may vary to those set by local publishers due to exchange rates and shipping costs.
Due to our competitive pricing, we may have not sold all products at their original RRP.