Technologies of Power in Digital Inclusion

Pandey, Priyanka and Zheng, Yingqin 2023. Technologies of Power in Digital Inclusion. Journal of the Association for Information Systems. 24 (5), pp. 1334-1357. https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00822

TitleTechnologies of Power in Digital Inclusion
TypeJournal article
AuthorsPandey, Priyanka and Zheng, Yingqin
Abstract

This study moves beyond the conventional focus on technology access, adoption, and participation in communities, and instead presents a perspective on digital inclusion as a complex process of both empowerment and subjugation. Drawing on Foucault’s theorization on subjectivity and power, our case study of community health workers in rural India reveals that the adoption of an mHealth application simultaneously subordinated and strengthened the subjectivity of the community health workers. The study explicates the process through which the health workers oscillated between the enhancement of their individual efficacy, and their submission to institutionalized power as facilitated by the mHealth application during their everyday work practices. Thus, by shifting the focus from “who” is digitally included to “how” they become digitally included, our research provides a fresh perspective that enriches and deepens the discourse of digital inclusion. It generates both theoretical and practical implications for anyone interested in understanding digital inclusion from a more granulated and practice-based perspective.

JournalJournal of the Association for Information Systems
Journal citation24 (5), pp. 1334-1357
ISSN1536-9323
Year2023
PublisherAssociation for Information Systems
Accepted author manuscript
File Access Level
Open (open metadata and files)
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00822
Publication dates
Published05 Sep 2023

Related outputs

Social positioning matters: A socialized affordance perspective of mHealth in India
Pandey, P. and Zheng, Y. 2023. Social positioning matters: A socialized affordance perspective of mHealth in India. Information Systems Journal. 33 (4), pp. 703-732. https://doi.org/10.1111/isj.12421

Power, Technology and Empowerment: A Case Study of Community Health Workers in India
Pandey, P. and Zheng, Y 2020. Power, Technology and Empowerment: A Case Study of Community Health Workers in India. in: Bandi R.K., C. R. R., Klein S., Madon S. and Monteiro E. (ed.) The Future of Digital Work: The Challenge of Inequality Springer.

Unpacking Empowerment in ICT4D Research
Pandey, P. and Zheng, Y. 2019. Unpacking Empowerment in ICT4D Research. in: Nielsen, P. and Honest Christopher, K. (ed.) Information and Communication Technologies for Development. Strengthening Southern-Driven Cooperation as a Catalyst for ICT4D Springer.

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