The Digital Studies Institute (DSI) recently hosted an illuminating book talk in Feb. 2025 featuring Dr. Erin McElroy, assistant professor at the University of Washington and author of Silicon Valley Imperialism: Techno Fantasies and Frictions in Post-Socialist Times. As part of DSI’s ongoing lecture series, the event fostered a rigorous examination of Silicon Valley’s global expansion, foregrounding its role in perpetuating gentrification, racial capitalism, and housing dispossession while interrogating the geopolitical entanglements of techno-capitalism. The discussion invited scholars and attendees to critically engage with the material conditions through which Silicon Valley continues to transform urban geographies and labor structures worldwide.
Dr. McElroy’s research, spanning the United States and Eastern Europe, interrogates Silicon Valley’s function as an imperial formation—one that extends its influence far beyond California through speculative urbanization, digital labor extraction, and ideological hegemony. Their work meticulously examines Cluj, Romania, a city marketed as the “Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe,” and elucidates the socio-economic and spatial ramifications of this branding. Drawing parallels between Cluj and San Francisco, McElroy illustrated how technology-driven urban redevelopment has disproportionately displaced Roma communities in Romania, mirroring the racialized patterns of eviction and gentrification observed in the Bay Area.
Throughout the lecture, McElroy deconstructed Silicon Valley’s mythos as a site of unmitigated progress, exposing its historical entanglements with empire, colonialism, and anti-communist sentiment. The talk foregrounded how the tech industry’s reliance on precarious digital labor regimes and outsourced infrastructures exacerbates systemic inequalities across spatial and political landscapes. By tracing the trajectory of techno-capitalism from the Cold War to the present, McElroy demonstrated how the region’s neoliberal ascendancy has been sustained through mechanisms of enclosure, displacement, and epistemic control, reinforcing broader dynamics of racial and economic stratification.
A significant theme of the discussion was the concept of “unbecoming” Silicon Valley—a theoretical and activist intervention into the processes that sustain techno-imperialism. McElroy highlighted resistance movements that contest the siliconization of urban spaces, ranging from grassroots tenant coalitions to digital activist networks seeking to reclaim communal technological futures. During the Q&A, the conversation turned to the uneasy relationship between Big Tech and the state. One attendee asked how we might understand the increasing “siliconization” of American governance. In response, Erin McElroy reflected on Silicon Valley’s origins and ideological trajectory: “Silicon Valley emerged as a state project… these companies were still getting government contracts… but now that is the government.” Rather than operating outside or against state structures, Big Tech has become deeply entangled with them—economically, ideologically, and infrastructurally.
McElroy further emphasized the historical conditions that made this convergence possible: “We really do need to understand liberalism and the evolution of capitalism and how it's historically enabled fascist conditions to grow and rise.” This prompted broader reflections on the ethical dimensions of algorithmic governance, the precarities of AI-mediated labor, and the enduring infrastructures of exclusion embedded in today’s techno-political landscape.
McElroy underscored the necessity of reframing how technological development aligns with entrenched structures of power, advocating for an interdisciplinary approach that bridges academic inquiry, policy intervention, and activist praxis. They called for a radical reimagining of digital economies, pointing to emergent alternative models—including cooperative technology collectives, community-owned broadband initiatives, and anti-surveillance movements—as sites of contestation against corporate monopolization. This analysis underscored the urgency of disrupting dominant narratives that position Silicon Valley as an inevitable force of modernization, instead emphasizing the material and ideological resistances that persist within and against the logics of techno-capitalism.
By convening this discussion, the DSI reaffirmed its commitment to fostering intellectual engagement with the structural dimensions of digital transformation. The event, co-sponsored by multiple academic departments and research centers, exemplified the interdisciplinary scope of McElroy’s work, bridging fields such as geography, media studies, and political economy. As Silicon Valley’s global reach continues to expand, dialogues like this serve as crucial interventions, equipping scholars and practitioners with the analytical tools necessary to interrogate and contest the socio-political ramifications of digital capitalism. McElroy’s insights provided a compelling framework for understanding the historical and contemporary forces that shape our technological landscapes, urging a collective rethinking of digital justice in an era of intensifying techno-imperialism.
Co-Sponsors & Upcoming Events
This lecture was co-sponsored by units across U-M, including the Digital Studies Institute, Institute for Research on Women and Gender, Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Department of American Culture, Department of Anthropology, Communication and Media, Science, Technology & Society Program, and the Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing.
Engage Further
Explore Dr. McElroy’s work with Silicon Valley Imperialism and dive into their book to unpack the techno-political struggles defining our era. For more events bridging scholarship and activism, subscribe to the DSI newsletter and join us in reimagining equitable digital futures.
The Digital Studies Institute is committed to fostering critical dialogues at the intersection of technology, culture, and justice. Learn more about our programs, research, and community partnerships here.
