From digital inclusion to IT appropriation: gendered aspects of appropriation imaginary and practices

Abstract

The gender digital divide is a well-known research and policy topic. Policy discourses emphasise the inclusion aspect focusing on equal opportunities and economic empowerment. Critical analyses of the inclusion narrative stress its universalist and normative perspective which implicitly excludes and determines what gender technology inclusion means. This contribution focuses on an alternative perspective developed in Latin America: appropriation of technologies. This approach foregrounds the socio-cultural and economic inequalities present in the Global South. Based on a case study of a transfeminist IT community from Argentina, this paper analyses the transformative aspects of this collective’s imaginary and practices. It argues that this approach is relevant to other Global South contexts where similar communities exist and provides us with a better understanding of possibilities and limits of inclusion in the digital technologies sector.

Technology, Power, and Social Inclusion: Afghan Refugee Women’s Interaction with ICT in Germany

“…Generalizing this insight means that a marginalized group may be oppressed but simultaneously resist this oppression and become an agentic group. In terms of ICT, an example is the appropriation of technology by marginalized groups that has been designed by and for members of the majority society (Martinez Demarco, 2023). Such appropriation can be part of an empowering strategy that uplifts the voices of previously underrepresented groups.…”