"Rethinking Digital Inequalities: The Experience of Favela Residents in CTCs"

David Nemer, Assistant Professor in the College of Communication and Information, School of Information Science at the University of Kentucky

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have emerged as symbols of modernity in both the developed and the developing world, and currently are seen as bridges to promote social and digital equalities. Because ICTs have been imported from the center, United States and Western Europe, to nations on the periphery, they are often perceived as sites of resistance and struggle between governmental policies, economic conditions and international players. Thus, approaching computers with the perspective of the marginalized offers a different window for understanding technological use, political processes, social tensions and cultural values, especially of those experiencing digital inequalities. Based on fieldwork over eight-months in the favelas (urban slums) of Vitória, Brazil, my research focuses on the motivations, engagements, and adoption of ICTs by marginalized people in community technology centers (CTCs). It asks the following questions: (1) what is their experience using CTCs? (2) How does their experience inform the ways we should think about what constitutes empowerment vis-à-vis ICTs? This study emphasizes the socio-cultural aspects of ICTs practices among marginalized people and attempts to understand such aspects and practices from their perspective. It argues that theoretical positions stemming from technology utilitarianism need expanding, because mundane and non-instrumental practices observed in the favelas shed light on the importance of technology in a variety of dimensions within people’s lives. Encompassing such practices contributes to a broader comprehension of the engagements and ingenious strategies that help shape the daily use of technology by marginalized people.