In this chapter, we will offer some reflections on ICT accessibility, uses and perceptions by rural women. Using a sociological conceptual framework based on discussions on gender, ICT gap, and women empowerment (Stromquist, 2014; Mezirow, 2006), we will try to understand, in an innovative way, the available statistical data collected in national and international surveys on this subject; we will also add qualitative data collected in an exploratory study, conducted in a Portuguese rural village. This study was a multi-site ethnographic research project (Falzon & Hall, 2009) with participant observation and in-depth interviews. We analysed the infrastructure conditions and constraints, with the aim of giving a voice to the interviewed women, in order to better understand their representations of ICT and the reasons for their use and non-use. The results allow us to advance some possible paths to mitigate some of the constraints to ICT empowerment among rural women.
Does e-participation enhance, or not, citizens' political participation? Such a debate implies identifying whether there are contexts of social change and/or social reproduction, and, if change actually occurs, which direction it takes. When it comes to online political participation, it is necessary to highlight whether there is some continuity from the offline form of participation and if some new features of the online participation challenge democratic societies. Regardless of the optimism and pessimism in the field of (e-)participation, this article presents a reflective discussion on crucial issues impacting on political e-participation. More specifically, it discusses social inequalities in political participation as well as surveillance and threat posed to free political choices. In addition, it discusses how the public sphere and citizens' (informed) political participation are challenged by the use algorithms, fake news, political propaganda and manipulation without public scrutiny.
Neste artigo, procura-se refletir sobre o tempo social interrompido pelo humor, como fórmula discursiva, e pela comédia, como recurso performativo. A incongruência das significações produzidas por esta forma estilística significa uma suspensão das regras de tipificação nas interações quotidianas do mundo-da-vida. Estes momentos de suspensão são designados por interrupções (time out). Neste texto mostramos como a relação do humor e da comédia com o tempo comum e com as interrupções revelam chaves interpretativas do tecido social intersubjetivo.
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