Nok Yeung
ICT4D: Empowerment orRhetoric?
INTRODUCTION
This annotated bibliography is aimed to provide literature reviews on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for development. Both Manuel Castells (2000) and Thomas Friedman (2006) identify the role of ICT on structural changes in our society, and extensive use of Internet and computers can empower individuals in the network society (Friedman, 2006). They suggest in the network society significant changes will take place politically, economically, socially and culturally. Thus, ICT itself has become part of ‘fashion’ in development arena. It has been increasingly valued and used as the way in to deliver development contents and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. World Submit on Information Society (2003/05), World Economic Forum and other development institution such as Department for International Development have been one of the advocators on ICT-integrated development programme. ICT itself has become a buzzword and at the same time links to other catchphrase such as empowerment. Therefore, I intend to provide an annotated bibliography on reviewing empowerment and ICT for development – are they empowering, or just rhetoric? Based on the framework of empowerment and Amartya Sen’s capability approach, I attempt to provide various case studies (drawing from journals, CD, and websites) and journals on investigating the effectiveness of ICT on developing capabilities of individual and communities of the poor to attain the quality of life they value.
Reference:
Castells, M. (Eds.) (2000) The information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, Oxford: Blackwell, 3 volumes
Friedman, T.L. (Eds.) (2006) The World is Flat: The Globalized World in the Twenty-First Century, UK: Penguin
The annotated bibliography will be structured into five main parts:
Theoretical backgrounds
ICTs and development discourses
Evaluation framework
Empowerment and Sen’s ‘Development as Freedom’
Social Development and ICTs
Education and ICTs
Health and ICTs
Gender development and ICTs
Rural Development and ICTs
ICTs, civil society and political development
PART 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
ICTs and development discourses
Castells, M. (2000) Materials for an exploratory theory of the network society, British Journal of Sociology 51, 1, 5-24
This journal summaries Castells’ main arguments from his trilogy - The information Age: Economy, Society and Culture (updated edition, 2000). Castells suggests that the social structure of our current society has been transforming into a network society in the last twenty years. The development of Information and Communication Technology has strengthened flows of information across time and space, altering the intensity, velocity and scale of processes of production/consumption; relationships of experience; and relationships of power. Nonetheless, although Castells mention the idea of power relation, he has not clarified much on this topic. To some extent, he fails to answer why flows of information are highly uneven. In the case, ICT is not deterministic and the use of ICT might not be a straightforward concept of empowerment. However, for those who think 1,500 pages of network society is too much, this journal does provide some basic understandings on Castells’ main ideas.
Reference:
Castells, M. (eds) (2000) The information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, Oxford: Blackwell, 3 volumes
Main, L. (2001) The global information infrastructure: empowerment or imperialism?, Third World Quarterly 22, 1, 83-97
In this article, Professor Linda Main raises questions over the claim that global information infrastructure will bring development in the Global South. Whilst she contends that internet connectivity has improved certain groups of people’s quality of life, interconnectivity is highly restrictive – limited to groups of elites. Indeed, capital and human resources are highly concentrated in some parts of the world. In her opinion, ICTs fail to develop locally suitable software and hardware, and she also doubts whether ICTs can replace provision of basic needs. Under the flagship of Neoliberal agenda, she suspects that ICTs might only bring about an increasingly widening world, and foreign direct investments could possibly be imperialistic in nature.
Schech, S. (2002) Wired for change: the links between ICTs and Development discourse, Journal of International Development 14, 1, 13-23
With regard to the role of ICTs for development, Susanne Schech attempts to examine two prevailing theories from the development discourse. She suggests that optimisms on ICT4D have been fuelled by an adopted neo-liberal modernisation discourse, which emphasises on the technological and informational gap between the developed and developing world; and pessimisms by dependency discourse, which suggests that ICTs would fail to address the existing unequal power relations. Susanne Schech claims that both discourses neglect the formation and circulation of knowledge in the socio-economic, cultural and political power structure. Knowledge, she suggested, is the power struggle between the dominant and counter-discourse. She highlights as ICTs ‘offer more access to information and faster communication, they make the job of constructing counter-discourse easier’ (ibid, 22), thus able to empower people who are at periphery.
Skuse, A. (2001) Information communication technologies, poverty and empowerment, Social Development Department Dissemination Note No. 3, DFID, UK
This short article serves as an introduction to ICT for development. While Skuse acknowledges that the ICT sector has been increasingly important in a globalised world, the accessibility and use of ICT, nonetheless, has been highly uneven in geographical scale with many of developing countries remain on the margin. Skuse also suggests that access to information is a human right, and outlined the barrier to ICT, pros and cons that people from developing countries are facing. At the end, he also attempted to construct a pro-poor ICT development framework.
PART 2: EVALUATION FRAMEWORK
Corbridge, S. (2002) Development as freedom: the spaces of Amartya Sen, Progress in Development Studies 2, 3, 183-217
In this essay, Professor Stuart Corbridge evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of Amartya Sen’s theoretical account of “Development as freedom”. Corbridge argues that Sen’s arguments were found on his critiques of utilitarianism, libertarianism and John Rawl’s account of social justice (ibid, 186), suggesting that the ultimate goal of development should be the removal of various types of unfreedom which have left the disenfranchised with ‘little choice and little opportunity of exercising their reasoned agency’ (Sen, 1999, xii). Sen’s account of functionings and capabilities is found on the Aristotelian Foundationalism and the politics of toleration, of which the latter allows room of temporal-spatial variations on defining the ideas of freedom (emphasise in original). Professor Corbridge’s reviews on ‘Development as freedom’ highlights the possible role of ICTs in achieving Development as freedom, although Sen’s account of freedom in communal sense is slightly problematic, which possibly arises of the breadth of the theoretical interrogations. Operationalising ‘Development as freedom’ is also difficult to achieve.
Reference:
Sen, A.K. (1999) Development as freedom, Oxford, Oxford press
Gigler, B (2004) Including the Excluded – Can ICTs empower poor communities? Towards an alternative evaluation framework based on the capacity approach, Paper for 4th International Conference on the Capability Approach 5-7 September, 2004 University of Pavia, Italy, URL at
http://cfs.unipv.it/ca2004/papers/gigler.pdf (accessed on 5th November 2006)
This article provides an alternative evaluation framework on ICT for development Whilst the ICT for development debate currently emphases on the transfer of knowledge from North to South (arguing how technological and knowledge backwardness of the Global South hinder development), Gigler suggested that it was the prevailing political, economic, social and cultural structure which ‘inhibits marginalised groups to make their information and knowledge know and disseminated, blocking their participation in the dominant society’s political and economic system’ (ibid, 3). Thereafter, he provided an analytical framework based on the ideas of empowerment and Amartya Sen’s capability approach of which he attempted to evaluate two ICT-integrated educational programmes on indigenour communities in Latin America. He also revealed the impact of ICT on empowerment and poverty reduction is largely contingent. He also recommends that it is ‘the human development of people, rather than technology should be the centre of the design and evaluation of ICT programme’ (ibid, 32).
Rowlands, J. (1995) Empowerment examined, Development in Practice 5, 2, 101-107
In this essay, Rowlands examines the meanings of empowerment, the idea which has not been properly defined yet. She began by conceptualise ‘power’ into ‘power over’, ‘power to’, ‘power with’ and ‘power from within’, suggesting power as a generative force rather than ‘zero-sum’. Through processes of conscientisation, people start to be aware of their interests and relate those of others, and participate in politics and exercising control over their lives as well as supporting participation/empowerment of others in the community. At the second part of her essay, Rowlands examined empowerment in the context of gender and development, economic empowerment as well as the role of outsider on individual and collective empowerment. Rowlands’ essay provides an introduction to the idea of empowerment.
PART 3: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND ICTs
Education and ICTs
Ballantyne, P. (2004) Evaluation of Swedish support to SchoolNet Namibia, SIDA, January 2004 (AF)
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)’s SchoolNet in Namibia is a typical rhetorical ICT4D programme. With a mission of “youth empowerment through the Internet”, they neither analyses the power structure in Namibia that inhibit youth’s acquisition of knowledge nor consult the local people of what they need. Worse still, the programme aims at empowering youth without even how it can be empowering. Evidence drew in the report were vague, too. For example, the report says a high usage of Internet and understandings of basic ICT skills are empowering, which I can not find any direct relationship between them. With appropriating the knowledge, the programme can be summed up as ‘education for ICT”. I also suspect that high usage of Internet could be driven by Sida’s programme. Clearly, sustainability is a problem (such as the instalments of solar power grid).
BBC News (2003) Radio education helps Somalis,
(http://news .bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/Africa/303676.stm, accessed on 31 October, 2006)
This short news article briefly describes the Somalia Distance Education Literacy Programme (also called Somdel) which is funded by the BBC World Service Trust Programme. Rather than an evaluation, it briefly shortlists the benefits of employing radio in bringing wider education in countries which conflict is endemic. Issues on rights, health, sustaining environment in rural area, basic literacy and numeracy are taught via the radio teacher programme. It also highlights that the programme enlists community participation and offers educational opportunities especially to female.
Beardon, H., Munyampeta, F.,Rout, S. and Williams, G.M. (n.d.) ICT for Development: Empowerment or Exploitation? Learning from the Reflect ICTs project, London: Action Aid (Mixed)
(http://www.actionaid.org.uk/_content/documents/ICTpo.pdf, accessed on 4 October, 2006)
Although it does provide a relatively comprehensive framework of empowerment (political, economic, cultural and informational), this article never defines empowerment. It does suggest changing the existing unequal power structure with ICT-integrated right-based approach, it covers no more than achieving ‘power to’ through providing accessibility to information. Its adult-training project, Reflect, is being described briefly without addressing clearly how and what impact ICT can have on these case studies. ICT is only being employed to enhance existing/provide alternative ways of communication and part of the evaluation framework is also seemed irrelevant to the Reflect project. More information should have been provided to link up the framework and the project.
DfES and Becta (2003) ICT and Schools Research and Evaluation Series. 18 Reports
This CD-ROM contains 18 reports on ICT for education. Evaluations of different ICT-integrated programmes can be accessed. The durability of the CD ROM is certainly one of its greatest advantages. However, most of the reports were written in English. Computers at decent speed are also required for operating Macromedia Flash.
Laval, E. (2002) ICT in Chilean Primary and Secondary Schools: A 10 years experience, imfundo
This set of slideshows is obtained from the Workshop organised by Imfundo. It reviews an ICT integrated educational programmes, the ‘Enlaces’ in Chile, and provides another case study to evaluate the impact made by ICT on education. It can be divided into 3 main bodies: background, lessons learnt and planning for future. It begins by describing the background of the ‘Enlaces’ such as the Chilean educational system in 1992 briefly. Thereafter, it pays ample attention to lessons that have been learned from 1992-2002. Whilst basic infrastructure is provided to both primary and secondary schools in Chile, training was also given to teachers and sharing networks were formed as a new platform for teachers. At the end, the author admits that ICT must not only have to be integrated into the curriculum in the years ahead, but also being used to facilitate pedagogical reforms in order to bring better education.
Rodrigo, M.M.T. (2003) Tradition or transformation? An evaluation of ICTs in Metro Manila schools, Information Technology for Development 10, 1, 95-122 (SA)
This article suggests that computers and the Internet have been objects under study as well as support tools for teaching more than catalysts to promote and optimise student-centred pedagogical methods. Both private/public primary and secondary schools emphasise on students’ acquisition of computer skills on productivity software such as word processors and spreadsheet software, highlighting the lack of software for other areas. Moreover, while computers are being locked up in the computer laboratory for most of the time, computers at school are used mainly in computer lessons (students’ understanding will be accessed by examinations). Basic information literacy does not mean that student’s capability to produce local content is enhanced. It shows that the capability of ICT on empowerment might be overrated in some cases – that is education for ICT, rather than ICT for education.
UNESCO Bangkok (n.d.) ICT in Education
http://www.unescobkk.org/index.php?id=494 (accessed on 29 November 2006)
This site covers the basic information of UNESCO’s ICT in Education programme, providing information on UNESCO’s work on Asia-Pacific area. Information about UNESCO’s projects, databases, news on ICTs and other relevant online materials are provided for reference. Without much information on individual projects, this website aims to provide snapshots of UNESCO’s projects and the background information about UNESCO’s ICT in education. Computer, internet and radio are the most frequently employed ICTs in education. Though the website is very informative and useful, the whole website can only be browsed in English. Covering too much information might discourage people reading it.