How do we build a more just future in a world shaped by technology and inequality? On June 16, Ruha Benjamin challenges us to use the power of imagination as a tool for action – against injustice, and for new possibilities.

On Monday, June 16, De Dépendance welcomes acclaimed sociologist Ruha Benjamin for a public talk on the occasion of her new book, Imagination: A Manifesto. Benjamin is Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, where she studies how emerging technologies – especially algorithms and artificial intelligence – can perpetuate inequality and reinforce racial discrimination, or be used as tools for social justice.

Take imagination seriously

In her revelatory latest work, Benjamin calls on us to take imagination seriously as a site of struggle and a place of possibility for reshaping the future. To fight harmful systems shaped by white supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism, and colonialism, we must first imagine things differently. Drawing on work that critically examines tech-mediated inequities, Benjamin offers a pragmatic and poetic approach to worldbuilding—one that invites each of us to consider the role we play in maintaining or transforming the oppressive status quo.

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