Shadows of the Silicon Valley: A Critical History of the High-Tech Industry

Abstract

Weaving together history, policy, economics, and personal accounts, this thesis situates the Silicon Valley within a broader history of settler colonialism, land extraction, and labor exploitation. Challenging the popular mythology that surrounds the industry, I focus on the tangible harms it has brought to the local community that surrounds it. I argue that, since its inception, the Silicon Valley has depended upon both the geographical landscape of the Santa Clara Valley and the construction of a racialized underclass to perform the labor necessary for the industry’s rise and growth. This critique uncovers the undercurrents of structural harms embedded in the Silicon Valley.