Zed Books Women and ICT in Africa and the Middle East: Changing Selves, Changing Societies

What is the link between Information Communication Technology (ICT) and women's empowerment in today's development context? How can ICT facilitate the pursuit of visions for a better world? Avoiding both 'techno-euphoric' and 'techno-pessimistic' hype this book offers answers. Based on analysis from twenty-one research teams in fourteen countries, Gender and ICTs in Africa and the Middle East explores a multitude of case studies - from the Sudanese radio sex education campaign to the 'Egyptian Facebook Revolution' - demonstrating what it takes to wield the emancipatory potential of ICT. A much needed, human-centred contribution to the fields of gender, development and Information Communication for Development. Review 'This remarkable book offers a diversity of rich case studies of women using ICT for empowerment in Africa and the Middle East within contexts which are normally male-dominated in their norms and values. The book is a valuable antidote to both technological utopianism and dystopianism, and should be required reading for those interested in ICT and development, both women and men.' Geoff Walsham, emeritus professor of information systems, University of Cambridge 'A valuable book offering innovative new ways of approaching the impact of ICT on gender relations in the Middle East and Africa. Weaving together issues of women's empowerment and freedom, as well as the fight against violence, the book opens up new avenues of personal and social transformation and uncovers challenging new female voices.' Professor Fatima Sadiqi, University of Fez, and director of the Isis Center for Women and Development 'Technology supports transformation, a connection not to be merely assumed but examined, and the evidence in this book is coherently and convincingly communicated. Balanced and brave, realistic yet hopeful, and data-based while human-centered, this book epitomizes excellence.' Michael Quinn Patton, co-author of Getting to Maybe: How the World is Changed 'This book is far from the usual hyperbole about the wondrous transformation that ICT can make in women's lives. The transformations are there, but so too are the trials at the intersection of ICT, gender and society. The individual chapters by researchers from both Africa and the Middle East are fascinating for their insights and for the complexities that they reveal.' Nancy Hafkin 'This book, written by researchers from African and Arab countries, reveals new challenges regarding the decolonization of these regions and the liberation of both women and men.' Nawal El Saadawi 'How do women use information and computer technologies to empower themselves and contribute to social development? In this welcome addition to the growing literature in the field of women, development and ICT, a range of case studies elucidate both the emancipatory nature of ICT and the formidable structural and cultural obstacles that remain.' Professor Valentine M. Moghadam, Northeastern University 'This is a rich, challenging and rewarding read for anyone interested in better understanding the role of ICT in women's empowerment. This book offers reasons to be optimistic about the transformative potential of ICT without losing sight of the power structures in which they are embedded.' Martin Scott, author of Media and Development About the Author Ineke Buskens currently leads the GRACE (Gender Research into Information Communication Technology for Empowerment) Network involving 21 research teams in 14 countries in Africa and the Middle East. Before she started her company Research for the Future in 1996, she was Head of the Centre for Research Methodology at the Human Sciences Research Council in Pretoria, South Africa for five years. Together with Anne Webb, she is editor of the book African Women and ICT: Investigating Technology, Gender and Empowerment (Zed 2009). Anne Webb is the Research Coordinator of GRACE. She has worked with communiti