Technology Gender And Power In Africa

Technology, Gender and Power in Africa

This sixth volume of the CODESRIA Gender Series is a collection of discourses, perspectives, practices and policies on the role of the female gender in science and technology, particularly in the African context. Although widely advocated as the indisputable foundation for political and economic power in the modern world, science and technology remains marked by various layers and dimensions of gender inequality that work to the disadvantage of girls and women. Despite the fact that a lot of awareness has been created, and gender issues are now more readily acknowledged by various development initiatives in Africa, participation in science and technology still remains a hurdle as far as girls and women are concerned. A common theme that runs through the book is how feminine identities, ideologies of domesticity and gender stereotypes, and the inadequacy or lack of clear policies facilitate the invisibility of women in science and technology. This notwithstanding, women have never ceased devising clever and ingenious ways that would enable them to master nature, from the margins. The book provides a window onto the current state of female participation in science and technology in Africa, along with an analysis of the historical backgrounds, current educational and professional contexts, and prospects for the future. While it is evident that more research needs to be done, with more groups in different regions, this volume brings together a rich and inspiring collection of qualitative insights on gender, science and technology in Africa. The CODESRIA Gender Series acknowledges the need to challenge the masculinities underpinning the structures of repression that target women. The series aims to keep alive and nourish African social science research with insightful research and debates that challenge conventional wisdom, structures and ideologies that are narrowly informed by caricatures of gender realities. It strives to showcase the best in African gender research and provide a platform for emerging new talents to flower.

Mobile phones are widely viewed as the information and communication technology that holds the most promise for bridging global digital divides. Gendered Power and Mobile Technology uses empirical research to focus on changing intersections between technology, gender and other categories of social and cultural power difference (such as age, race, class, and ethnicity) in the use of mobile communication technologies. Asking how these intersections can inform development discourse, practice, and research, this volume seeks to rectify the lack of attention to the Global South, calling for more sensitivity to the contexts and consequences of mobile phone use. Indeed, drawing on case studies from Ecuador, Ghana, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, Tanzania, and Uganda, this book engages with the intersectionality paradigm to tease out the complexities of using mobile technologies for development purposes. Gendered Power and Mobile Technology will appeal to students and researchers interested in fields such as media studies, development studies, gender and technology, feminist technoscience, anthropology, and sociology.

Based on the outcome of an extensive research project, this book features chapters based on original primary field research undertaken by academics & activists who have investigated situations within their own communities & countries.

Gender and the Information Revolution in Africa

Based on the outcome of an extensive research project, this book features chapters based on original primary field research undertaken by academics & activists who have investigated situations within their own communities & countries.