Unforgetting Policy Failures: Technosocial Scotomas in Historical and Contemporary Data Initiatives

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Abstract

This paper examines technosocial scotomas, systematically constructed oversights emerging when stakeholders fail to recognize complex interplays between data systems and their social, cultural, economic, and political contexts. Drawing from critical technology studies and sociotechnical systems theory, we analyze three data consolidation initiatives: the Total Information Awareness Program (2002-2004), inBloom (2013-2014), and current federal database consolidation proposals (2025). Unlike superficial blind spots, technosocial scotomas are constitutive absences that actively produce gaps from co-evolving social systems and technological infrastructures. Our analysis reveals seven manifestations, which demonstrate how approaches prioritizing innovation and efficiency fail when violating democratic norms or threatening privacy. This research contributes to "unforgetting histories," revealing how scotomas support the status quo and prevent imagining just, inclusive educational futures.

Author

• Edward Dieterle, Education Research Partners, LLC