Dr. Ron Eglash is a professor and researcher known for pioneering work on fractals, culturally situated design, and generative justice. He is the founder of the Center for Generative Justice and author of African Fractals.Perfect for listeners who want a sharper vision of technology, justice, and economic redesign — and a practical argument for building systems that give value back instead of taking it out. Dr. Ron Eglash, Director The Center for Generative Justice https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-eglash/ https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ron-Eglash Value extraction is destroying our forests, our labor, our communities, and even our tech. Ron Eglash argues there’s a better way, and it starts with designing systems that circulate value instead of siphoning it. Albert Grandy III talks with Dr. Ron Eglash about generative justice, a framework built on the idea that people and communities should directly participate in the benefits they create. Eglash traces the roots of this thinking from his father’s restorative justice work to his own research on fractals, indigenous design, and circular economies, showing how the same patterns can appear in African textiles, Detroit worker co-ops, and even AI systems. You’ll discover: Why extraction is the hidden logic behind inequality, environmental damage, and platform capitalismHow bottom-up systems in indigenous communities create resilience, democracy, and adaptabilityWhat fractals reveal about labor, culture, and the transmission of Black and Indigenous knowledgeHow Eglash and his team built worker-owned AI tools like Upsy and Sancofa Sizer for upcycling, textiles, and designWhy the real question for AI is not whether it has bias, but what kind of social world its bias is serving Ron shares examples from African circular economies, Gee’s Bend quilts, Navajo weaving, controlled burns, and Detroit-based artisan businesses to show how regenerative systems already exist, and how they can be translated into modern computing, fabrication, and local supply chains.He also explains why the false choice between capitalism and state socialism misses a crucial third path: worker-owned, grassroots economies that keep ownership, agency, and value in the hands of the people doing the work. If you care about AI, sustainability, Black innovation, community wealth, or the future of work, this conversation will change how you think about what “efficiency” is actually for.
