South Asian digital diasporas and cyberfeminist webs: negotiating globalization, nation, gender and information technology design

Abstract

This paper discusses theoretical and applied concerns that arise in attempts to design and produce South Asian cyberfeminist e-spaces. Such attempts must inevitably negotiate diasporic and nationalist gender, class and caste identity formations, as well as online corporate and academic cultures situated in an increasingly global economy. In addition, they must also negotiate liberal cyberfeminist celebrations of technology as empowering to all women. The first part of this paper therefore discusses available literature in relation to South Asians and information technology, South Asians in digital diaspora, and the third world and cyberfeminism with the intention of mapping out theoretical paths leading to connections between theoretical examinations of South Asians in cyberspace and applied practices of designing and building online spaces. The second part of this paper discusses some issues that arise in practical attempts at building South Asian cyberfeminist webs, based on my experience working on such projects for the past eight years.

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