Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2021 -

In Intersectional Tech, Gray (Univ. of Illinois, Chicago) sets out to make readers reconsider the relationship between the "transmediated" technologies of gaming culture and its intersectional users, fans, and audiences. Using a truly interdisciplinary approach, Gray draws upon a range of intellectual frameworks to better explore how gaming, far from being a liberating, post-racial space, can not only perpetuate but even exacerbate existing systems of oppression. She deftly alternates between synthesizing academic writings that incorporate intersectionality and conveying the stories of gamers who inhabit several intersecting identities (Black, female, queer, disabled, and furry are a few) that give life to her analysis. This is an important book for those who want to better understand how technologies assumed to be equitable can actually be tools of marginalization and oppression and may be a wake-up call for those unaware of the profound injustices perpetrated in gaming spheres, both with and without malice. Beyond its considerable scholarly worth, Intersectional Tech is a doubly powerful book: the voices it shares can empower those who feel marginalized and highlight the difficult work of creating authentically inclusive games and spaces. Highly recommended for both scholars and designers.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels.