Alondra Nelson

The Institute’s School of Social Science turned its focus for the 2025–26 academic year to the theme of Digital (In)Equality. The parentheses in the title gesture to what Alondra Nelson, Harold F. Linder Professor in the School and the theme year’s organizer, refers to as the “double-edged-ness” of the contemporary digital ecosystem. Nelson’s convening insight challenges the dominant narratives around technology: both techno-optimism and techno-pessimism miss the point.

Sociologist Alondra Nelson, Harold F. Linder Professor in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, is an expert on the intersection of race, inequality, science, and technology...

Like many Americans, my family and I were riveted by the Roots miniseries when it first aired in January 1977. I vividly recall sitting in front of the television with my mother, father, sister, and two brothers, watching the story of Alex Haley’s...