|
African women and ICTs --- paving the way ahead
According to Graςa Machel, "This book brings to light the strength and the resilience of the women who spoke to the authors, yet also the slim margin there is for true empowerment within the context in which they live."
It is the commitment of women scholars such as Dr Buhle Mbambo-Thata, Executive Director of the Unisa Library, and Ineke Buskens of Research for the Future who place women’s contributions in the field of information technology at the centre. The publication African women and ICTs: investigating technology, gender and empowerment is based on "doing research for the purpose of transformation," according to co-editors, Ineke Buskens and Anne Webb.
African women and ICTs is a new joint publication between Unisa Press, Zed Books and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) launched in September 2009 at the Unisa Library. It explores the ways in which women in Africa receive and utilise various technologies. Dr Mbambo-Thata is one of the contributors to this publication which boasts 16 well-researched articles in various countries on the African continent.
The research is conducted by academics and activists in the areas of education, communication and information technologies, among others. African women and ICTs is a rich text that provides well-researched and theorised accounts of women’s engagement with the growing ICT infrastructure, particularly women in rural areas. It thus opens up for the reader a gender perspective on the concept and role of ICT within these women’s public and private spaces.
African women and ICTs is available at the Unisa Press bookstore and at other leading book dealers. Online purchases can also be made at www.unisa.ac.za/press.
| 
