The Politics of Little Empowerment Devices in International Development

• In Event: Technology, Inequality, and Social Justice - II

Abstract

International development in the 21st century is often framed using the language of social justice. Little development devices like “clean” cookstoves, mobile banking apps, and sanitary pads are promoted as having the capacity to empower women and produce gender, race, and caste equity. But what does social justice, empowerment, and equity mean in these efforts, and how are these values embedded in these devices and the scientific knowledge that justifies them? And as these devices are envisioned and implemented, how do they erase other potential forms of empowerment, justice, and equity? Using the cases of toilets and sanitary pads in India, this paper analyzes how social justice goals are articulated and embedded in both the science and technology of international development. It argues that the sciences that justify these devices embody Western approaches to social justice, including approaches to empowerment and equity that are economic and at once individualized and generalizable. And as these devices travel, they embody both particular definitions of relevant knowledge and expertise as well as social justice. In the process, they erase indigenous knowledge systems, history, and culture as well as alternative avenues of empowerment and equity that might stem from an understanding of this context. This is ironic given both the Indian and international interest in Ayurveda and indigenous knowledge systems, and the drive towards participatory approaches to international development interventions.

Author

• Shobita Parthasarathy, University of Michigan