Gender and Citizenship in the Information Society Research Programme - April 2011 Review Workshop Report

The Gender and Citizenship in the Information Society (CITIGEN), launched in 2010, is an Asia-wide research programme co-ordinated by IT for Change and supported by the The International Development Research Centre (IDRC). It aims to explore the notion of marginalised women's citizenship as a normative project or an aspiration for equitable social membership contained in the promise of an emerging techno-social order. CITIGEN also hopes to build a network of researchers and scholars engaged in policy research and advocacy on information society and gender issues in the Asia region. Currently six research partners from Sri Lanka, Philippines, China, Thailand/Taiwan, Bangladesh and India are studying various aspects of the terrain, and four eminent scholars from Costa Rica, Pakistan, Thailand and Germany, are writing think pieces delving into the research subject from their perspectives to further enrich the research process.

On 26-28 April 2011, IT for Change organised a Review Workshop for the research programme in the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. The objectives of the workshop were:

  1. Review and reflect upon the emerging insights from each research project in relation to the questions and core concepts of the programme

  2. Build a big picture that speaks to the theoretical imperatives of the programme as a whole

  3. Anchored in emergent theoretical formulations of the programme, explore the elements of a 'Southern' discourse on women's citizenship in the information society and implications of the same for practice and policy at national and global levels.

The workshop aimed at facilitating the articulation of emerging concepts and tentative theories from

the ongoing work in the CITIGEN network and channel these into a debate on the larger questions of democratic structures and institutions, and their shifting meanings for marginalised women's participation in the information society, as equal citizens. In order to expand and deepen the debates

and discussions, a few scholars working on feminist frameworks from a Southern perspective, and who are potential contributors to the network's research, were invited to comment and present their perspectives on the project's ongoing work.

A detailed account of CITIGEN discussions and work can be found at the links below:

For the complete CITIGEN: April 2011 Review Workshop Report

For video excerpts from the Review Workshop

For interviews of some participating scholars