Information determinism: The consequences of the faith in information
本文识别并检验了政策领域中常见的信息决定论假设，即认为只要获取“正确信息”就能促成预期行动，并通过三个案例（1980年代加州灾害响应计划、1990年代印度发展项目、2000年代面向全球南方的教育项目）分析其忽视信息生产与流通的社会物质条件、将信息视为能动主体的后果，主张政策应超越信息决定论，关注边缘群体的实际需求。
We identify and examine the assumption of information determinism that is commonplace in policy arenas: that mere access to the “right information” will precipitate desired actions. Our analysis focuses on implications of information determinism in three cases: California disaster response plans in the 1980s, an Indian development project in the 1990s, and an education project directed at the Global South in the 2000s. Our analyses shows that planning based on information deterministic assumptions tends to overlook the sociomaterial circumstances of information production and circulation, including how social structures and materiality shape information in practice. Further, they imbue what we call “information” with the agency to bring about change. While we do not deny that “information” can be useful, we argue that policy needs to move away from information deterministic thinking and its singular focus on information access to address the needs of marginalized and vulnerable populations.