[eccr] Feminist Media Studies

> > CFP: Gender and the Information Society
> > Feminist Media Studies 3(3) Criticism and Commentary Section
> >
> > Deadline:    23 May 2003
> > Length:     1,000-1,500 words (5-6 pages typed, double-spaced)
> >
> >       The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) is holding its
> > first
> > meeting later this year in Geneva, with a follow-up conference in
> > Tunisia
> > in 2005.  Working under the aegis of the United Nations, this global
> > body
> > seeks to address issues that are of immediate relevance to scholars in
> > the
> > field of communication: the 'new world order' created by global flows of
> > information, the impact of IT on the first world-third world
> > configuration,
> > the information gap and its effects on practices of democratic
> > governance
> > and civil society formations, and numerous other related topics.
> >       Given this timely consideration of the role and place of IT in our
> > lives, we now seek to identify the various ways in which gender is
> > implicated in this brave new world, using the criticism and commentary
> > section to highlight gender as a crucial variable in this debate.  Too
> > often discussions of such global topics are enveloped by wide-ranging
> > and
> > global policy concerns, where such a focus tends to ignore the real and
> > material effects that policy has on the lives of women and men.
> > Therefore,
> > we want to highlight the ways in which gender is implicated in both
> > information technology processes and in the access to and use of IT. In
> > other words, through a focus on gender we want to render visible the
> > opportunities and challenges afforded by the development of the
> > Information
> > Society and explore the ways in which the rhetoric of empowerment masks
> > the
> > perpetuation of existing gender hierarchies.
> >       We are seeking short papers which address any aspect of gender and
> > ICTs, along the lines of our interest identified above. There are
> > numerous
> > examples from developing world countries that highlight the positive
> > outcomes of information technology on individual women's lives.  For
> > instance, the Grameen Phone initiative in Bangladesh has offered new
> > avenues of economic empowerment for rural women.  Similarly,
> > téléboutiques
> > in Senegal and Morocco, and phone shops in Ghana have helped some women
> > bridge the digital divide and participate more actively in
> > male-dominated
> > arenas of civil society.  Notwithstanding the utopian vistas opened up
> > by
> > new information technologies, especially in the economic arena, there
> > are
> > numerous difficulties which the WSIS must also confront.  These include
> > the
> > obstacles to women's access to ICTs, the specific ways in which women
> > are
> > mobilized within circuits of cyber-trafficking and pornography; and the
> > impact of new information-gathering techniques on women's work (women's
> > participation in data entry jobs, teleworking, the digital glass
> > ceiling,
> > etc.).  Issues of universal and equitable access and the use of IT in
> > public health, particularly around HIV/AIDS, gain new salience in
> > discussions of democratic governance in the Information Society.
> >
> > The deadline for this call is 23 May, 2003  ? please submit your
> > contributions by email attachment to both of us.  If you would like to
> > discuss submitting a contribution to this volume, please email us at:
> >
> > (k.ross /at/ coventry.ac.uk)
> > (smoorti /at/ odu.edu)
> >
> > We look forward to receiving your essays in May.  Please pass on this
> > CFP
> > to anyone you think might be interested in contributing.  As always,
> > please
> > feel free to submit book or film reviews which you think would be of
> > interest to the FMS readership.  The following website contains the
> > style
> > guideline for Feminist Media Studies:
> > http://tandf.co.uk/journals/authors/r-authors/fmsauth.pdf
> >
> >
> >
> > Sujata Moorti
> > Associate Professor
> > Old Dominion University
> > Norfolk, VA 23529
> >
> > 757.683.3823
> >

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Carpentier Nico (Phd)
Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University Brussels
Studies on Media, Information & Telecommunication (SMIT)
Centre for Media Sociology (CeMeSO)
Office: C0.05
Pleinlaan 2 - B-1050 Brussels - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-629.18.30
F: ++ 32 (0)2-629.28.61
E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
W1: http://smit.vub.ac.be/
W2: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
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