The history of the bulldozer is darker than you might think, and its evolution goes beyond simple construction and demolition. Joe Zadeh explores its origins in violent voter suppression, to its weaponization in war and state-sanctioned home demolitions, and how it has been a symbol of both creation and destruction. He also asks, “How responsible are the manufacturers of a particular technology for the ways in which it is ultimately used?”
To bulldoze was to unleash a dose of coercive violence.
For many marginalized groups around the world, heavy earthmoving equipment has often been the visible part of the faceless bureaucratic mega-machine that runs roughshod through communities in the name of urban renewal, beautification or “slum” clearance. In India, the yellow JCB has become more than that — a catchall term for earthmoving equipment transformed into weapons of both literal and metaphoric power. For some, they symbolize unspeakable terror; for others righteous justice.