Dreaming the Future: Gender, Development, and the Politics of Technology

• In Event: Gender and Technopolitics in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

Across the globe, national and supranational institutions are emphasizing the need for women to achieve development gains through their integration into the “network society.” The lag of women in the knowledge society in the global south has been framed as a “problem,” and the inclusion of women in the technological realm as the “solution.” Closely aligned with traditional development discourses, these technological discourses resonate with neoliberal rhetoric that privileges individualism, self-reliance, and market-based solutions by focusing on individual empowerment and economic development through entrepreneurship. But far from being passive consumers, grassroots organizations in Latin America are defining a “feminist politics of technology.”
This project examines the kinds of “feminisms” that emerge amidst local and transnational discourses and practices that focus on gender, development, and technology, and fills an important need for understanding the ways in which women’s insertion in the network society is being framed and practiced. I argue that grassroots organizations working on these issues are negotiating their place within the network society in varying ways. These approaches are fluid and varied, also networked and evolving. A variety of qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews and textual analysis, are employed to understand the discourses on gender and technology, and the practices of numerous organizational actors. The three primary cases are the Women’s Rights Programme of the Association for Progressive Communications, Sula Batsú in Costa Rica, and Colnodo in Colombia. Data has also been collected from experts on gender and technology at key global agencies, international funding entities, and major technology corporations. This research will attempt to advance theoretical debates on gender, technology and development, and inform policy by providing insights on how national and international prescriptions are interpreted and transformed on the ground.

Author

• Firuzeh Shokooh Valle, Northeastern University