Author ORCID Identifier
Anuradha Ganapathy: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8464-9121
Richard Heeks: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4551-2208
Gianluca Iazzolino: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4153-1521
Abstract
Even though the field of ICT4D has had a long-standing interest in understanding the relationship between ICTs, inclusion, and inequalities, the topic has not yet been reviewed systematically till date. We lack a comprehensive understanding of how these concepts have evolved, the emerging contestations in this space, and the implications they have for future research and practice in the area of equitable digital futures. In response to this gap, this paper provides a critical review of the ICT4D literature on digital inclusion and inequalities, via a review of 77 articles on this topic. Our findings suggest that digital inclusion theorizations have matured beyond access-only, techno-determinist and universalist understandings of ICTs to embrace more socially embedded and human-centric approaches. However, important limitations remain, key among them being what we conceptualize as a “paradigm lag” in theorization, i.e., where the literature continues to predominantly engage with how to maximize the development benefits of ICTs, while the more complex and politicized dynamics associated with newer modalities of the ICT4D paradigm, such as digital enforcements, data extractivism, and surveillance, continue to be underexplored. Overall, the paper emphasizes the need to foster critical but also generative ICT4D scholarship that can strengthen evidence for positive structural transformation.
Recommended Citation
Ganapathy, A.,
Heeks, R.,
&
Iazzolino, G.
(In press).
Analyzing Inclusion and Inequalities in ICT4D: A Critical Literature Review of Themes and Gaps.
Information Technology for Development.
Available at:
https://aisel.aisnet.org/itd/vol32/iss1/26