It was nearly five years ago when I had a vision of sharing the incredible stories, experiences, and lessons I have learned from working with diverse communities and cultures across the world. I imagined that as a first time author the book could best be written in isolation in the redwood forests of Northern California. I was wrong. The book came to write itself while I was active in the world rather than removed from it. It has been written across many countries, and it is through my experiences of fieldwork that it blossomed.
I am truly grateful for those who have hung through it all with me. This book has witnessed my engagement and marriage to the inspiring, beautiful, and powerful Syama Meagher. I thank her for being there for me every day since we met on an amazing Brooklyn night in June 2012.
My parents, Seenu and Sita, and brother, Mahesh, have been there for me since I was so young, along with my grandparents and family in South India. Their compassion and support of my process as I shifted from a young engineer to now humanist, scholar, and activist has been a foundation that has allowed this book to blossom. My father and brother’s academic careers complement my own, making for wonderful and hilarious dinner table conversation!
Thank you to NYU Press, and in particular Alicia Nadkarni, who has been a fantastic editor with whom I have greatly enjoyed collaborating. The mentorship of media scholar Henry Jenkins, my professor from many years back, brought NYU Press into my life and early on helped cement the intellectual foundations of this book. Henry has gone above and beyond the responsibility of any mentor to support me, particularly for a student from the past!
I am truly grateful for the support of my colleagues. There are so many of you whom I admire for the brave positions you take, for the intellectual transformations you facilitate, and the presence you have had as true interlocutors. Thanks to my dear friend and colleague Robin Boast, and Adam Fish with whom I will soon be releasing a book titled After the Internet. Thank you also to the many coauthors with whom I have developed fantastic collaborations over the years. UCLA, and the Department of Information Studies, has been an intellectual and professional home for this work to take shape. I thank all my colleagues and students for the valuable conversations we have had, inspiring my work to reach new heights.
Some of you have been involved in giving this book the rich feedback it needed. Shane Boris, especially thank you so much—your kind and thoughtful comments and edits have given this book a polish, clarity, and quality of argumentation that allows it to straddle the public and academic worlds. Thank you, Kyle Boelte, for your philosophical musings on the meanings of technology. Rukshana Singh, thank you so much for your supportive and constructive comments on this book. Thank you Ruth Livier for your great feedback and excitement! And thank you, Dennis Shepherd, for your incredible cover design and professionalism.
Thank you to my dear friends who have talked with me about this book. You all add so much positive energy into my life.
And thank you with all my heart to all the people and communities with whom I have worked and from whom I had learned so much. You inspire what I write, how I think, and who I am. Finally, thank you to those who read this. I hope this is but the start of a conversation we will have as we think about new technologies and those whose voices they support and serve.