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2.3.3: Technology as a liberatorI want to argue here that technology has become a force for educational liberation. My startingpoint is Gutierrez's (1971) notion of 'organic intellectuals' (see 3.1.4 for a more detailedexplanation of this term) which derives from his reading of Gramsci (1971). For me, there was ahappy conflation of marxist ideology (where I was politically as a student) with Christianactivism (where I was theologically and spiritually) wrought by the Theology of Liberation(Gutierrez, 1971). Much of my early professional identity as a teacher was constructed around'freeing young people from the captivity of ignorance', 'inculcating values of justice and freedomin the hearts and minds of young people', 'extending the invitation to participate in charity andactivism'. I wanted the pupils I taught to think for themselves, make their own judgements,develop values and, break through the glass ceilings of privilege, power and prestige in ethical,informed and intelligent ways. It was an identity forged in idealism. There remains for me asymbiotic relationship between education and liberation.There is an increasing body of literature that documents the involvement in and influence oftechnologies on contemporary social and political movements, all of which themselves springfrom sets of ideals."... many new social media tools have inbuilt features which make them easy toappropriate for political ends. The group and personal profile pages of social network sitessuch as Facebook offer a new space where people can share dissenting views andexchange information when planning demonstrations; a modern reworking of thetraditional ‘public sphere’. Blogs, such as tortureinegypt.net, have proved effective indocumenting injustice and brutalisation over long periods of time, and have provided alens through which to focus and direct public anger. Other tools, such as Twitter, enablethe very fast dissemination of news." (Nash, 2011 p. 2)Though not an illustrative moment as such and therefore outside the remit of this thesis buttangentially convenient, the following anecdote rehearses another moment where liberation andfreedom were wrought at the intersection of self and technology - not, in this case, myself.112Simon Hughes Ph.D. Thesis (October 2012)