There has been an explosion of new technological solutions in recent years, and as West has becomes more tech-centered is has also become on of the areas in which the developing world is lagging further behind. The idea of the digital divide as one of the main factors for underdevelopment has shifted the development discourse in to a path where ICT’s in general and ICT4D in particular is described as has gained the status of universal solution the development issues of today (Pieterse 2005).
There has been an explosion of new technological solutions in recent years, and as West has becomes more tech-centered is has also become on of the areas in which the developing world is lagging further behind. The idea of the digital divide as one of the main factors for underdevelopment has shifted the development discourse in to a path where ICT’s in general and ICT4D in particular is described as has gained the status of universal solution the development issues of today (Pieterse 2005).
According to Howley (2005) the main purpose of community media is the participatory aspect. To empower the underprivileged and raise the voice of the poor, the media whether it’s television, radio or just community education is that is has to be both of and by, and not just for a particular community (ibid).
Pieterse (2005) challenges the idea of ICT4D as an answer to underdevelopment and refers to the digital divide a “deeply misleading discourse”. He goes as far as to call it “digital capitalism” and simplification that fails to see the underlying problems (Pieterse 2005:12). Instead he sees how the tech-focus in development risks to just another area of dependency for the developing world (Pieterse 2005:14). Or to use one of Pieterse’s examples “Once the illiteracy problem is solved […] cheap books are a great boon, but giving illiterate people cheap books does not solve illiteracy”, (Wade 2002 as quoted in Pieterse 2005:14).
Cisles (2005) shares the concern, that the tech-focus fails to see underlying problems. On one hand we have the demands from donor countries and the IMF to cut public spending, on the other hand we have the demand to improve public services such as healthcare and education. To demand computer accesses for every student in an environment that lacks many of the more basic conditions for education makes little sense, especially as computers demands costly infrastructure and updates which oftentimes results in long term expenses without adding any real benefits to the community. The dogma of the ICT4D discourse risks to lead away from transparency and open discussion between partners by promoting unrealistic demands on instant success as a condition for long term commitments, nurturing a culture where “doing well by doing good” rules over actual change and sustainability (Cisles 2005:156).
Magic Bus and the end of gender inequality in rural India
For this assignment I have chosen to look closer at MARD and their initiative with the Magic Bus to see how they have worked with new community media in order to educate youth in gender issues to change cultural patterns of abuse and discrimination towards women.
“Every time I look into the mirror, I want to see a man whose mother, sister, wife and daughter are proud to call their own.” – Farhan Akhtar co-founder MARD
The Magic Bus is a community mentorship program sprung out of the organization Men Against rape and Discrimination (MARD) they aim to educate rural children in gender equality.
I think this project is a good example of how organizations tries to combine the ideas of ICT with old fashion analog learning. By solely educate mentors via online learning the project relies less on capital intensive solutions which in turn them gives accesses to spread the program to rural areas (where it’s needed the most) that lacks infrastructure and financial means for electricity and internet connection.
The local knowledge on the mentors facilitates the efforts to design classes to target the main issues of the particular area (Howley 2005). Despite the lack of tech media and online learning, the children both girls and boys gains valuable lessons in team building, gender awareness and leadership that lets them graduate with tools to fight traditional gender roles in their community. Participation in the program also gives an equal opportunity to graduate with the chance of become future mentors and educators in their community.
Literature
Magic Bus http://www.magicbus.org/
MARD www.therealmard.com
Howley, Kevin. (2005) Community Media – People, Places, and Communication Technologies. Cambridge Univ. Press.
Lovink, Geert & Zehle, Soenke (2005) the Incommunicado Reader. (Chapters by Pieterse and Cisler.) Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures. Chapter by Cisler; Available online: http://www.networkcultures.org/weblog/archives/IncommunicadoReader.pdf
Pieterse, Nederveen, Jan. Digital capitalism and development: The unbearable lightness of ICT4D
Cisler, Steve. What’s the Matter with ICTs
In order to engage in a discussion about participation, I think that we cannot escape Nico Carpentier’s (2007) argument about the dilution of the signifier. In this case, I would be interested to know the level of participation, whether partial or full. Who has demanded for a discussion on this issue? Who has the ultimate power to determine the direction of this education program? Though noble in its efforts, we cannot lose sight of the importance of full inclusion to the extent of empowerment of those ‘participating’ in these lesson. It looks like a great project and very necessary in this time for this community. The challenges of literacy, both technological and general academic, are relevant issues that Pieterse raises. How can members in a community fully participate in their own development, not simply interact with the discourse, when they are not literate and aware? It seems that MARD is taking one step toward resolving this huge question.
That is a much relevant concern, the project lacks a try participatory aspect in terms of the initiative coming from the outside, still it has the flexibility to tailor tutoring to fit local needs. Still there are doubt about how accurate their own statement are, their website makes flames like “77% of the children know that domestic violence are unacceptable and 69% knows the importance of hygiene/washing hands” at first glance you wonder how they came up with these figures but they do make an effort making all their annual reports and audited statements available online for anyone to read and in projects like this one transparency is key – without it we risk the situation of the “doing well by doing good” culture described by Cisles.
Geer T Lovink and Soenke Sehle,(2005) lifts the question of the lack of critique of ICT development but here I think we see an example of a project that has the critique in mind and really tries to to do their share of bridging the digital divide. I think you could say that MARD have succeeded since they are spreading online learning in rural areas and specially since they are giving the students a chance to be a mentor aswell I think you could say that they in a way have managed to bridge the digital divide.
I think that this post summarizes very well some of the main concepts of Pieterse and Cisles regarding ICT4D. I also think that those concepts are somehow out of date. A lot of things have changed in ICT since 2005 and this “industry” is in constant change. ICT is cheaper, more available, and easier to use. ICT4D is definitely not a solution on its own, and will not change underdevelopment/development map of the world. But ICT should be as accessible and obvious in “non-developed” countries as in the developed countries. That is the first step, and that is what ICT4D should stand for.
The MARD project presented in the second part of post, shows an innovative approach and solution for taking out the existing knowledge and use of the available ICT tools – to spread the knowledge and educate. There is no harm in having books even if the majority may be “illiterate”!