Global Dialogues

To bring fire to mortals, Prometheus bore the cost of the eternal torment of his immortal liver. While the technological utopia has become a paradigm of development in the anthropocene, we must acknowledge the Promethean suffering that undercuts this vision. The technological utopia in its earliest iterations has been a self-congratulatory tool of the global North. Its visions are grounded in neoliberal thought that prioritizes hollow growth over social equity. Too often, these interpretations of progress center around technocrats and achievements from a top-down perspective, erasing the perspectives of different classes who bear the incidence of its costs. Inherent to techno-utopianism is the dismissal of structural issues and environmental degradation in favor of an idealized narrative of technological triumph.

It is easy to dress exploitation in a chrome exterior, to ring in renewable energy technology without regard for the burdens of lithium mineral extraction in Chile, to dispose of the old and remain ignorant of mounting e-waste disposals in Ghana. Within the current capitalist organization of the global economy, there is a fundamental disconnect between these modes of production and consumption that must be acknowledged. The natural world is the source of all that is produced and consumed, and it is where all things ultimately return. Techno-utopianism, with its boundless promises of progress, must be reconciled with this fact. Technologies do not exceed the realities of earthly existence, they are part of it. The extraction of resources and the human tolls of techno-utopianism leave deep marks on the planet, underscoring a need for holistic definitions of progress to account for the true costs of development. The tale of Prometheus is one of noble, infinite sacrifice, yet it is not one that can be replicated on our finite Earth.

Grace Liu (SFS'27) is a junior in the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.