Domesticity and digital eugenics : design cultures of Silicon Valley

Abstract

The paper attempts to make sense of the two more recent areas of interest of Silicon Valley’s ‘gang of four’: Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Facebook. The last few years have seen this group of four turning their attention to the development of ‘smart’ ecologies with a focus on automation and the development of a 'house of tomorrow'. More recently, reports have emerged of increasing interest in biotechnologies and Synthetic Biology start-ups. Interest in these two areas are commonly interpreted as the logical consequence of the need to find new profitable markets. We suggest, instead, that modification of the human body is central to understanding these corporate actions. We use the notion of eugenics as an interpretative framework to understand these new areas of expansion, suggesting the creation of a hegemonic culture gestated by digital technologies