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The Charisma Machine Infrastructures Series Edited by Geoffrey C The Charisma Machine Infrastructures Series Edited by Geoffrey C. Bowker and Paul N. Edwards Paul N. Edwards, A Vast Machine: Computer Models, Climate Data, and the Politics of Global Warming Lawrence M. Busch, Standards: Recipes for Reality Lisa Gitelman, ed., “Raw Data” Is an Oxymoron Finn Brunton, Spam: A Shadow History of the Internet Nil Disco and Eda Kranakis, eds., Cosmopolitan Commons: Sharing Resources and Risks across Borders Casper Bruun Jensen and Brit Ross Winthereik, Monitoring Movements in Development Aid: Recursive Partnerships and Infrastructures James Leach and Lee Wilson, eds., Subversion, Conversion, Development: Cross-Cultural Knowledge Exchange and the Politics of Design Olga Kuchinskaya, The Politics of Invisibility: Public Knowledge about Radiation Health Effects after Chernobyl Ashley Carse, Beyond the Big Ditch: Politics, Ecology, and Infrastructure at the Panama Canal Alexander Klose, translated by Charles Marcrum II, The Container Principle: How a Box Changes the Way We Think Eric T. Meyer and Ralph Schroeder, Knowledge Machines: Digital Transformations of the Sciences and Humanities Sebastián Ureta, Assembling Policy: Transantiago, Human Devices, and the Dream of a World-Class Society Geoffrey C. Bowker, Stefan Timmermans, Adele E. Clarke, and Ellen Balka, eds., Boundary Objects and Beyond: Working with Leigh Star Clifford Siskin, System: The Shaping of Modern Knowledge Lawrence Busch, Knowledge for Sale: The Neoliberal Takeover of Higher Education Bill Maurer and Lana Swartz, eds., Paid: Tales of Dongles, Checks, and Other Money Stuff Dietmar Offenhuber, Waste Is Information: Infrastructure Legibility and Governance Katayoun Shafiee, Machineries of Oil: An Infrastructural History of BP in Iran Megan Finn, Documenting Aftermath: Information Infrastructures in the Wake of Disasters Laura Watts, Energy at the End of the World: An Orkney Islands Saga Ann M. Pendleton-Jullian and John Seely Brown, Design Unbound: Designing for Emergence in a White Water World, Volume 1: Designing for Emergence Ann M. Pendleton-Jullian and John Seely Brown, Design Unbound: Designing for Emergence in a White Water World, Volume 2: Ecologies of Change Jordan Frith, A Billion Little Pieces: RFID and Infrastructures of Identification Morgan G. Ames, The Charisma Machine: The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop per Child Mario Biagioli and Alexandra Lippman, eds., Gaming the Metrics: Misconduct and Manipulation in Academic Research Malcolm McCullough, Downtime on the Microgrid: Architecture, Electricity, and Smart City Islands Emmanuel Didier, translated by Priya Vari Sen, America by the Numbers: Quantification, Democracy, and the Birth of National Statistics Ryan Ellis, Letters, Power Lines, and Other Dangerous Things: The Politics of Infrastructure Security The Charisma Machine The Life, Death, and Legacy of One Laptop per Child Morgan G. Ames The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England © 2019 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. This book was set in ITC Stone Serif Std and ITC Stone Sans Std by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Ames, Morgan G., author. Title: The charisma machine : the life, death, and legacy of One Laptop Per Child / Morgan G. Ames. Description: Cambridge, MA : MIT Press, [2019] | Series: Infrastructures | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018050938 | ISBN 9780262537445 (pbk. : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Laptop computers--Developing countries. | Computers and children-- Developing countries. Classification: LCC QA76.5 .A4255 2019 | DDC 004.1609724--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018050938 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For Carla d_r0 Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1 OLPC’s Charismatic Roots: Constructionism, MIT’s Hacker Culture, and the Technically Precocious Boy 2 Making the Charisma Machine: Nostalgic Design and OLPC’s XO Laptop 3 Translating Charisma in Paraguay 4 Little Toys, Media Machines, and the Limits of Charisma 5 The Learning Machine and Charisma’s Cruel Optimism 6 Performing Development 7 Conclusion Appendix A: An Assessment of Paraguay Educa’s OLPC Project Appendix B: Methods for Studying the Charisma Machine Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgments This project has made powerfully concrete to me that intellectual development is a profoundly social process. Just as the motivations of the Paraguayan children whom I observed were influenced by their teachers, parents, and friends, my own research trajectory has been deeply influenced by many important people in my life. Indeed, at times it seems strange that research projects have ownership when we all owe so much to our intellectual communities. First and foremost, I thank my graduate advisor, Fred Turner, for his intellectual guidance. Though our topics, methods, and even writing habits may differ, I have learned so much from him about how to navigate the halls of academe and to produce rigorous, intellectually honest, and (hopefully) insightful research—and work that reflects my own passions. Words cannot express the gratitude I feel for this intellectual and social guidance. My committee has also helped me along this path: Cliff Nass, Jeremy Bailenson, Tanya Luhrmann, and John Willinsky. I especially honor the memory of Cliff, who in many ways was like a second advisor. He hooded me in place of Fred in June 2013 and was always available to provide ever-upbeat and ever-insightful feedback. We miss you, Cliff. Just as important to this research are my colleagues and participants in Paraguay. My fieldwork there was one of the most challenging and enlightening experiences of my life. The gracious hospitality and support of the employees of Paraguay Educa, especially Pacita, enabled my fieldwork. I also owe so much to my research assistant, Liliana, who not only came along to many of the house visits and interviews to help me with my nonexistent Guaraní but scheduled and transcribed many of my interviews, and moreover welcomed me into her home as if I were a member of her family. Her superb local knowledge and many friends made my fieldwork so much easier. I want to thank all of the teachers, students, parents, and others for allowing me to shadow their experiences and for patiently answering my many questions. Geeking out with Bernie, Sebastián, Martín, and the technical team gave me a welcome respite during my time in Paraguay. Bernie also provided a welcome counterpoint to my observations and theories in Paraguay and beyond. I honor the memory of Carla, who was not only my host but my friend. When cancer took her from us much, much too early, it took one of the brightest and most passionate advocates for Paraguayan children. The lion’s share of day-to-day support came from my cowriters over the years: ShinJoung Yeo, Daniela Rosner, Lilly Irani, Megan Finn, Lilly Nguyen, Tricia Wang, Lauren Schmidt, Christine Larson, Anita Varma, John Alaníz, Mark Gardiner, and more. These incredible scholars joined me to write in cafés and libraries all over the San Francisco Bay Area, and most also offered generous feedback on chapter drafts along the way. I have come to learn that I love to write socially, and this group has seen me through. Equally important was the generous community of scholars who offered feedback on chapters throughout the writing process. The dissertation on which this book is based was honed with the help of the Stanford Humanities Center dissertation writing group, convened by Katja Zelljadt. The two years I spent in this talented, interdisciplinary group gave me countless ideas for how to both broaden my work to appeal to more audiences and deepen it to make it more theoretically impactful. More recently, I have bent the ear of insightful colleagues including Joseph Klett, Matt Rafalow, Amber Levinson, Alicia Blum-Ross, Antero Garcia, Jenna Burrell, Damien Droney, Anne Jonas, Richmond Wong, Noura Howell, Christoph Derndorfer, and Nick Merrill, who all provided constructive feedback on (in many cases) multiple chapters. Finally, Laura Portwood-Stacer of Manuscript Works helped me reframe an early draft, Georgia Saltsman and Charlotte Nix helped me proof the near- final draft, and anonymous reviewers gave me invaluable feedback in between, guided by the encouraging editorial leadership of Katie Helke at the MIT Press. This project was shaped by a number of people in the broader academic community. I thank my first postdoctoral supervisor, Paul Dourish, and the engaging community at the University of California, Irvine to which he introduced me, especially Chris Wolf, Noopur Raval, Silvia Lindtner, Katie Pine, Katherine Lo, Melissa Gregg, and the other members of the Intel Science and Technology Center for Social Computing. I hope the technology industry will again support such generative collaborations as the ISTC produced. I thank Eden Medina for including me in an incredible group of scholars studying science and technology in Latin America, and Juan Rodriguez and Hector Danilo Fernandez L’Hoeste for helping me sustain these connections. I have also benefited from the leaders and participants of the Values in Design workshops in 2008 and 2010, the Consortium for the Science of Sociotechnical Systems in 2011, the Digital Media and Learning Summer Fellows program in 2012, and the iConference Doctoral Colloquium in 2013. I have saved the most important people in my life for last. To Josh, my wonderful partner: your faith in me has truly sustained me, and your commitment to an equal partnership has made this intellectual labor possible. Our relationship started around the time I embarked on this project, and I am so grateful for the strength you have helped me develop through the last decade to see it through. And to Mom and Dad, I credit you with nurturing my intellectual curiosity and cultivating a joy for living and learning throughout my youth.
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