“I Am Not Sure How Much It Will Be Helpful for Me”: Factors for Digital Inclusion among Middle-Class Women in India

Author(s)

Kim M. Thompson, University of South Carolina - ColumbiaFollow
Anindita Paul, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode

Document Type

Article

Subject Area(s)

Information & communication technologies, Social justice -- India, Social participation, Political participation, Middle class women -- Political activity

Abstract

The ability of the individual to participate fully in society is increasingly tied to the ability to access and to use digital technologies in a meaningful way for social, political, and economic participation, making digital inclusion a key component of modern social justice. This article explores digital inclusion issues beyond physical access to digital information technology. The research is based on a series of in-depth interviews with women in Kerala, India, who have had access to digital information technologies for at least 5 years. The collected data were analyzed for evidence of factors beyond physical access to technology and basic literacy skills that affect information and communication technology access and use.

Publication Info

Published in The Library Quarterly, Volume 86, Issue 1, 2016, pages 93-106.

© 2016 by University of Chicago Press.

Thompson, Kim M., and Anindita Paul. (2016). “‘I Am Not Sure How Much It Will Be Helpful for Me’: Factors for Digital Inclusion among Middle-Class Women in India.” The Library Quarterly, 86(1), pp. 93–106. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/684144