Latin America and technology inequalities

Crystina Riffel

November 2, 2008

JUS494 blog

 

 

This weeks’ topic was about inequality in regards to research agendas in Latin America.  Innovative, developed countries have taken advantage of underdeveloped countries.  They set up their heavy polluting industries in poor countries without regard to the people’s and environment’s health.

  Sutz states that technology should be viewed as a tool to fight inequality, but the roots of inequality seem to be too strongly established to challenge by technology (55).   He suggests that research agendas are biased.  Some research objectives may be presented in a way that differs from what is really intended to fit the agencies’ priorities.  They present agendas in a “more favorable light in terms of social relevance” (Sutz 57).  

 Sutz states that in countries that are undeveloped lack technical solutions due to structural weaknesses in the region’s national systems of innovation (63).  They lack knowledge, research, allies, policies and funds.  These types of countries need policies to “assist the integration of research, innovation, production and diffusion” in order to create more equality (65).  “Equality-oriented knowledge is only important insofar as it creates opportunities for innovation” (Sutz 65).