The diffusion of major new technologies in society is often accompanied by a set of myths that tell us how these technologies will change, clearly for the better, the social and economic fabric of a community. Digital technologies are associated with myths such as the death of distance and of mediators, the end of history and of politics (Brown and Duguid 2000; Mosco 2004). We build on Mosco’s idea of myth as a force shaping discourses around the introduction of new technologies in the context of the deployment of digital artifacts such as digital ID systems and mobile money platforms in the Global South (Mosco 2004). Using the examples of the Unique Identification system (Aadhaar) in India and mobile money in Myanmar, we show how these myths persist long after technologies are in common use. We also examine how, in practice, the use of these technologies seldom aligns with the mythology surrounding them, and it is, instead the moral economy of the communities where they are deployed that mediates their use (Thompson 1971). We argue that local histories of state-making and the larger political economy of technology design can help explain the persistence of the mythology around digital technologies despite the disconnect between myths and reality.

中文翻译：

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印度和缅甸的数字身份证和移动货币的神话和道德经济学

重大新技术在社会中的传播通常伴随着一系列神话，这些神话告诉我们这些技术将如何改变社区的社会和经济结构，从而变得更好。数字技术与神话相联系，例如距离和调解员的逝世，历史和政治的终结（Brown and Duguid 2000； Mosco 2004）。我们建立在Mosco的神话观念的基础上，它是在全球南方部署数字人工制品（例如数字ID系统和移动货币平台）的背景下围绕引入新技术而形成的论述。以印度的独特身份识别系统（Aadhaar）和缅甸的移动货币为例，我们展示了这些神话在普遍使用技术后如何长期存在。我们还将研究实践中 这些技术的使用很少与周围的神话相吻合，而是由使用这些技术的社区的道德经济来调节其使用（Thompson 1971）。我们认为，尽管神话与现实之间存在脱节，但地方政府的建立历史和更大范围的技术设计政治经济学可以帮助解释围绕数字技术的神话的持久性。