Bridging the Digital Divide: A Feminist Perspective on the Project

Abstract

Dale Spender compares the contemporary growth of digital information (due to computer technology) with the centuries-old growth of written information (due to the printing press), which inspired a tremendous social revolution. Today, digital information has the potential to inspire a similar social revolution, if we all have access as users and creators of information technology. Some have described the gap between those with power to use and create digital information and those who do not as a “digital divide.” How can we use the potential of information technology to birth a new social revolution on a global scale? How can we bridge the digital divide? The answers lie in a reevaluation of science and technology to include us all. This chapter explores the problem from a feminist perspective and proposes a variety of solutions.