RSS leader at Stanford critiques tech ethics gap: Civilisational wisdom vs. extractive innovation
Original framing: “RSS leader at Stanford University: Ethics must guide technology” — bing news
The RSS’s emphasis on 'ethics' ignores its historical opposition to India’s secular scientific institutions, including opposition to Nehru’s scientific temper and support for pseudoscientific claims (e.g., cow urine therapy). This aligns with colonial-era techno-nationalism, where 'civilizational' rhetoric justified extractive development. The speech also echoes 19th-century Hindu reformist movements that sought to reconcile science with spirituality, often at the expense of marginalized communities.
The RSS leader’s speech at Stanford reflects a broader Hindu nationalist project to reconcile techno-optimism with a civilizational narrative, but it obscures the RSS’s historical opposition to secular science, its majoritarian underpinnings, and its alignment with extractive tech models.
This framing serves both Hindu nationalist and Silicon Valley elites by depoliticizing tech ethics, reducing it to moral appeals rather than structural critiques. Cross-culturally, it contrasts with Indigenous and Afro-diasporic traditions that view technology as a relational tool embedded in ecological and communal ethics. A systemic solution requires dismantling the RSS’s selective civilizational rhetoric, centering marginalized voices in tech governance, and redirecting innovation toward eco-social justice. The path forward lies in pluralistic governance, decolonized education, and anti-extractive legislation that prioritize the well-being of people and the planet over profit and majoritarian ideology.