Automating Inequality (Virginia Eubanks)

Virginia Eubanks’s book, Automating Inequality, examines how modern digital tools and algorithms act as a contemporary "digital poorhouse" by tracking and penalizing the most vulnerable members of society. Through detailed case studies in Indiana, Los Angeles, and Allegheny County, the book demonstrates how automated systems for welfare eligibility, homelessness triage, and child abuse prediction often replace human empathy with rigid, biased data. The argues that such technologies are not neutral observers but are instead political instruments used to manage, police, and deny resources to those in poverty. By framing these high-tech systems as descendants of 19th-century poorhouses, the author reveals how surveillance and administrative barriers function to deter people from seeking necessary aid. Ultimately, the work serves as a warning that algorithmic governance can automate social exclusion while shielding institutions from accountability. This analysis calls for a shift toward data justice and universal support systems that prioritize human dignity over technological efficiency.