The Ethics of Digital Archiving in the Amazon: A Case Study of the “Biblioteca Amazónica” (Amanda Smith)

Event details Date: Friday, July 17, 2026 Time: 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM Location: Zoom - Online Type: Lecture / Workshop Audience: Alumni,Faculty,Prospective Students,Public,Staff,Students About this event This talk examines the ethical questions that arise when the digitization and preservation of archives from the Global South depend on funding and scholarly altruism from the Global North. How does such digital work serve communities, and in what ways does it circumvent them? How can inevitable power hierarchies be confronted and negotiated? What sorts of alliances must be formed to undergo this work, and how do the parties involved work together across differences? Who has the right to grant permissions for the digitization of cultural patrimony? Who is the final digital repository for? What is the relationship between metadata decisions and community access? Rather than resolve these complex issues, this talk will underscore the questions that must remain at the forefront of this kind of work if it is to be done ethically. Official event details: https://events.berkeley.edu/live/events/322869-data-power-and-the-ethics-of-knowledge-lecture-series