Information and communication technologies are in the discourse around the development of third world countries an intergrated component. Development in the information society context means developing third world countries after model that entails making these to become like the western information societies. Through ICTs these countries obtain membership of the information society However this entails a number of problems and basis for further analysis:
Based on the notion from the development discourse, technology is equally constructed as ressource in the West that needs to be transferred to the Third World. As such entails same problems as described in development discourse and entails an even more radicalised version, since can now be excluded. Technology is suddenly a lot more than just improvement of production but also prescribed other values and as such strengthening/promoting the homogeneity of human rights etc. also critisied for enforcing the adoption of a western ethics, eradicating the multiplicity of local communities. However, when it come to analysing technology it should not be overlooked , that technology isn't just western, but that all technologies can be argued to be a part of practice in all civilisations. However the cultural aspect of these pratices should be emphasised in order to analyse this as a cultural exchange (human-culture, social-cultural). The focus on technicalities takes away this focus and technology shouldn't be seen as neutral, but also shouldn't be seen as the opposite since this would be an error. Banerjee at al. argue that technology is only a means for western countries to expand their control through capitalism, often with a military purpose; but we need to expand our notion and understand impacts on localities through this understanding as membership of the global imagined community. We need a different idea about technology in globalisation, as more than just something circulating in a capitalist circuit, but also as media technology with impact on imagined globalisation (appadurai). Following Anna Tsing it is important to examine the political-cultural and politico-economical aspects around projects claiming a locality and still yet claiming global membership of the information society. I think this is a pretty good way of approaching telecentres and multipurpose community centres, that are established as part of South African government initiative to 'transform' rural districts into information societies. Interestingly, transformation in a South African context is also linked to the post-apartheid process South Africa is currently undergoing, which aim is to empower previously disadvantaged groups. This only adds further complexity to the matter, as South Africa is a very heterogeneous society with a great awareness of indigenous cultures (an awareness endorsed by government) yet striving strongly to become Euro-style information society, accepting the cultural homogeneity of ICT. What impact does this have on localities? How is this dream of connecting far country side locations? How are 'rural areas' constructed in this tension (same question about these, at times very undefined, communities)? Very complex, but very interesting as well.
I am currently working on my master thesis on ICT for development, currently based at the University of Cape Town. This entry is taken from my own web site http://www.jakobp.dk. I don't reference articles for this entry, but if interested, please feel free to send me an e-mail.
