Agenda Overview and History
At the forefront of feminist publishing in South Africa for almost 20 years, Agenda Journal raises debate, questions, challenges and critiques understandings of gender. Agenda prides itself on being at the cutting edge of feminist debate and gender analysis, and the journal provides readers and researchers with a fresh, challenging, stimulating and thought-provoking read.
Agenda Journal -
Call for Writers - Women & ICT's
To send
contributions for the upcoming Agenda Journal on Women and
ICTs
Agenda will
publish a journal focussing on the topic of Women and ICTs in May 2007.
This Agenda Journal will explore how
women can take advantage of the ICT revolution and what women’s obstacles are to
using ICTs.
Proposed contributions should cover
one or more of the following key areas from a women’s rights or feminism
perspective:
What
opportunities will ICTs offer women in achieving the Millennium Development
Goals? What are the
obstacles to using ICTs to economically empower women? How can ICTs
empower women in the informal economy?
How can ICT policies be engendered?
What are the
dangers of creating a digital divide, a disparity between those who make use of
ICTs efficiently and effectively, and those who do not? Do women in
Contributions need to be written in
English language and in a style accessible to a wide audience. Please submit
abstracts to editor@agenda.org.za
All submissions must contain the
following:
Deadline: Please submit no later than 28 January
2007.
Background
ICTs are key tools to transform the
way women live, and the way development takes place. The use of ICTs enables
more information to be found, retrieved and disseminated faster than ever before
– it means we are moving to an information- and knowledge-based society. ICTs
have many potential benefits for women, for example an increased ability to work
from home, improved employment opportunities in the fast-growing IT sector,
improved global market access through e-commerce and improved access of women,
especially rural women, to distance learning and distance work
programme.
Yet, ICT use remains difficult, if not impossible, for the majority of women worldwide. Women often find themselves at a disadvantage, whether through a perception that technology is a male domain or due to lack of skills, education, opportunity or access to finance. There is also a lack of gendered access to ICTs and ICT training - especially for rural women; a lack of awareness of women to the benefits of ICTs and language barriers to the use of ICTs for non-native speakers of English.
There are multiple
challenges to ICTs becoming a positive force for women's economic empowerment,
including the large percentage of women in developing countries who work in the
informal sector; the lack of support for women working in the formal sector and
the lack of infrastructure in developing countries for conducting e-commerce.
Engendering ICTs is not merely about greater use of ICTs
by women. It is about transforming the ICT systems using a rights-based
approach.