| Dear Colleagues,
We’re pleased to share the news that a new open-access book is available through the WAC Clearinghouse (https://wacclearinghouse.org). Una escribana, un fotógrafo y un vendedor: prácticas digitaletradas en un barrio de la Ciudad de México | A Scribe, a Photographer, and a Vendor: Digitaliteracy Practices in a Working-Class Neighborhood in Mexico City is written by Judy Kalman and Patricia Valdivia. It appears in the book series International Exchanges on the Study of Writing, which is edited by Ana M. Cortés Lagos, Soledad Montes Sanchez, Flavia Sordi, Maria de los Ángeles Chimenti, Hairenik Aramayo, Steven Fraiberg, Joan Mullin, Magnus Gustafsson, Terry Myers Zawacki, Anna S. Habib, and Elitza Kotzeva. In this book, Judy Kalman and Patricia Valdivia examine how digital technologies become part of everyday activities, the conditions that shape their appropriation and use, and how people make sense of and interpret the emergence of these devices in their social, personal, and professional lives. They begin by identifying the dominant narratives that prevail in social discourse. These narratives tell stories, promise progress and a better future through the incorporation of digital technologies, and suggest that their use will always be beneficial. At the same time that these narratives present a worldview, they also mask a reality marked by tensions, diversities, and inequalities. Many of these narratives shape policies and programs by creating demands on the population and often function as an umbrella for heterogeneous events. To explore these narratives, the authors describe and analyze how people living in precarious social and material conditions access, adapt, and adopt digital technologies in their daily lives. Focusing on Tláhuac, a working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of Mexico City, they analyze the different ways people living in suboptimal conditions gain access to and participate in literacy and digital practices. En este libro, Judy Kalman y Patricia Valdivia examinan cómo las tecnologías digitales se integran en las actividades cotidianas, las condiciones que moldean su apropiación y uso, y cómo las personas interpretan y dan sentido a la aparición de estos dispositivos en sus vidas sociales, personales y profesionales. Comienzan identificando las narrativas dominantes que prevalecen en el discurso social. Estas narrativas construyen relatos, prometen progreso y un futuro mejor mediante la incorporación de tecnologías digitales, y sugieren que su uso es siempre beneficioso. Al mismo tiempo, estas narrativas presentan una visión del mundo, y ocultan una realidad marcada por tensiones, diversidades y desigualdades. Muchas de estas narrativas contribuyen a configurar políticas y programas al generar demandas sobre la población, y a menudo funcionan como un marco que engloba fenómenos heterogéneos. Para explorar estas narrativas, las autoras describen y analizan cómo un grupo de personas que vive en condiciones sociales y materiales precarias accede a las tecnologías digitales, las adapta y las incorpora a su vida diaria. Las autoras se centran en Tláhuac, un barrio de clase trabajadora situado en la periferia de la Ciudad de México, y analizan las diversas formas en que personas que viven en condiciones subóptimas acceden y participan en prácticas letradas y digitales. The book will also be available in a print edition from the University Press of Colorado in the coming months. Thanks to Judy and Patricia for their decision to share it with us as an open-access publication. Thanks as well to the anonymous peer reviewers who contributed to its development. On behalf of the entire Clearinghouse team, Michele Zugnoni Associate Publisher for Communication |
Una escribana, un fotógrafo y un vendedor: prácticas digitaletradas en un barrio de la Ciudad de México | A Scribe, a Photographer, and a Vendor: Digitaliteracy Practices in a Working-Class Neighborhood in Mexico City By Judy Kalman and Patricia Valdivia Available at https://wacclearinghouse.org/books/international/la/practicas-digitales/ |
Michele N. Zugnoni, PhD, JD, CPC (she, her, hers)
Associate Professor of Instruction
Northwestern University Writing Program
Searle Fellow 2023-2024
Associate Publisher for Communication, WAC Clearinghouse
Coordinator, AWAC Summer Professional and Faculty Mentoring Program