"Wing or Bone" - Implications of Information and Communication Technologies on Urban Slum Dwellers' Occupation: A qualitative case study in Chennai, India
Translated title
"Wing or Bone" - Implications of Information and Communication Technologies on Urban Slum Dwellers' Occupation
Author
Pedersen, Eva Løvschall Haugaard
Term
4. Term
Publication year
2016
Submitted on
2016-08-26
Pages
61
Abstract
Dette kvalitative casestudie undersøger, hvordan livet i indre by-slum, informations- og kommunikationsteknologier (IKT) og jobmuligheder hænger sammen i Chennai, Indien. Med udgangspunkt i interviews med 22 beboere og 4 lokale fagpersoner finder studiet, at de langvarige hierarkier i kastesystemet fortsat former, hvem der får adgang til god uddannelse og ordentligt arbejde. IKT er til stede i næsten alle dele af det sociale liv og fremhæves ofte som en vej til lige muligheder. Men fordi IKT er et redskab og ikke en løsning i sig selv, og fordi såkaldte glasvægge og -lofter begrænser adgangen til den private sektor, hvor de mest eftertragtede IT-job findes, udligner IKT alene ikke ulighed mellem sociale grupper. Offentlig politik og bystyring spiller en ambivalent rolle: stigmaet knyttet til lav kaste er blevet indlejret i institutioner og er dermed både en social og politisk realitet. Med inspiration fra Pierre Bourdieu og Manuel Castells tolker studiet slummen som en form for symbolsk vold (hverdagsstrukturer, der får ulighed til at virke normal) og bruger begrebet netværkssamfund til at forstå, hvordan IKT ændrer arbejde, uddannelsesforløb og socialt liv. Samlet set ændrer IKT bylivet, men udvisker ikke kastebaseret ulighed uden bredere strukturelle ændringer.
This qualitative case study examines how life in inner-city slums, information and communication technologies (ICT), and work opportunities intersect in Chennai, India. Drawing on interviews with 22 residents and 4 local professionals, it finds that long-standing hierarchies rooted in the caste system continue to shape who gains access to quality education and decent jobs. ICT is now present in almost all areas of social life and is often promoted as a way to create equal opportunities. However, because ICT is a tool rather than a solution in itself—and because so-called glass walls and ceilings limit entry to the private sector where the most desired IT jobs are—ICT alone does not eliminate inequality between social groups. Public policy and urban governance have an ambivalent role: stigma attached to low-caste status has been built into institutions, making it both a social and a political reality. Using ideas from Pierre Bourdieu and Manuel Castells, the study interprets the slum as a form of symbolic violence (everyday structures that make inequality seem normal) and uses the notion of the Network Society to explain how ICT is reshaping work, educational pathways, and social life. Overall, ICT changes urban life but does not erase caste-based inequality without broader structural change.
[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]
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