Women@internet: Creating New Cultures in Cyberspace

A provocative exploration of the emerging trends in women's activities on the Internet, primarily in the Third and Fourth Worlds, this anthology brings together the voices of anthropologists, communications experts, media analysts and women's rights activists who are uninhibited about using techno-speak and the occasionally impenetrable language of social science. An outgrowth of the Women on the Net (WoN) project, originally organized by the Society of International Development where Harcourt is a program director, the collection begins with a particularly analytical section on the different cybercultures women are creating on the Net and their inherent dangers and advantages. Gillian Youngs considers whether we are entering a new phase of feminist politics ""characterized by the possibilities of geographical, social and cultural transcendence,"" while Sohail Inayatullah and Ivana Milojevic remind us that ""far more is required for cultural pluralism than a fast modem"" and caution that ""by promoting, enhancing and cementing current ways of communicating the Internet silences billions of people."" The second section provides examples of how women's groups have used information and communication technologies (ICTs) for global networking, for advocacy and for lobbying policymakers. In the final section, WoN's members consider more specific applications: Laura Agustin considers how ICTs could empower migrant sex workers, while others explore the possibilities they offer for indigenous cultures, isolated rural women and the silent women of the Arab world, among others. (Aug.)