Gender and Equity in Openness: Forgotten Spaces

PUBLISHED IN: Making Open Development Inclusive: Lessons from IDRC Research. MIT Press, IDRC (2020)ABSTRACT: While gender has been recognized as an issue with reference to the internet, operationalizing it to ensure both men and women equally benefit, has been problematic. This is largely due to the fact that gender asymmetries and inherent social structures that fuel them have been ignored even when technological and operational concerns of access and participation have been addressed. The article argues that knowledge itself is not gender neutral because it is dependent on who, what and how it is created and used. A feminist viewpoint provides the framework for the discussion