Feminist Challenges in the Information Age Information as a Social Resource

In the last three decades, women's intervention in the social and natural sci­ ences, in medicine and technology has introduced new paradigms. We have to admit that it takes time and energy to influence these fields in a feministic way. Women do not only work for the growth of knowledge, but also for the trans­ formation of knowledge systems. This book is about using knowledge for action in an interdisciplinary effort focussing on information as a social resource. Women's approach to the information age is different, as becomes visible in this book: Women's scholarly explorations include not only developing technol­ ogy, but also improving communication and networking, as well as supporting democratic processes by taking advantage of the tremendous technological op­ tions. I am convinced that this approach is vital for living the information soci­ ety, and that it will also make fields relating to information technology more at­ tractive to women. This book is the outcome of the Project Area INFORMATION of the Interna­ tional Women's University (ifo) held at the University of Hamburg in the sum­ mer 2000. As the Deputy Minister for Science and Research of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg I was responsible for promoting this study program. The international gathering of 150 participants was a most exciting event. The experience of ifo has enriched me as a scientist, as a feminist and as a politician.

1: Building International Learning Communities.- The Challenges of Building ifu.- Students’ Motivations for Joining ifu.- The Experience of Living ifu.- Revising Sisterhood: from Unity to Affinity. The Case of the International Women’s University.- Linguistic Expressions Connecting Women Across Cultures.- 2: Gendering Information Technology.- Cross-Cultural Cooperation in Designing Information Resources.- Bringing Gender Issues to Technology Design.- Women in Computing.- Technological Change and Cultural Ceilings.- 3: Enhancing Communication.- Cyberfeminism Crossover: Talking about Intercultural and Interdisciplinary Experiences.- Spinning at Computers.- Imaginative Visualizations: Enriching Women’s Workplace Skills.- Performing Borders: Gender and Technology in Diasporic Culture.- 4: Supporting Cooperative, Interactive Learning.- A Culture of Cooperation: Making the Journey the Destination.- Towards Knowledge Co-construction.- Teaching Computer Skills: A Gendered Approach.- At Home in Education: Making Online Education Work for Global Women.- 5: Networking for Community Development.- Building Virtual Communities: The Case of a Telehealth Project from the South Pacific.- Development from Within: Community Development, Gender and ICTs.- Rhetoric and Realities: Evaluation of IT Projects.- Times of the City: The Use of ICTs in Timesaving.- Strategies for Empowering Women on the Internet.- 6: Fostering Democracy.- Visions of Citizenship: Women, Democracy and Information.- Indigenous Women and Empowerment.- Information Rights and Media Democracy in Times of Globalization. A Women’s and Civil Society’s Perspective.- The Internet in the Service of Democracy.- Information Technology and Protection of Refugees.- Resolution.- Resolution (Poem).- List of Authors.

Christiane Floyd, Professor and Head of the Software Engineering Group at the Informatics Department, University of Hamburg;
Govind Kelkar, Ph.D. in Political Economy, Professor of History and Gender and Development Studies, Consultant for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO);
Silvie Klein-Franke, Ph.D. Immunobiology/Biochemistry; further education in affirmative action;
Cheris Kramarae, Professor, Center for the Study of Women in Society, University of Oregon;
Cirilia P. Limpangog, B.Sc. Mass Communication, Master in Public Administration, post graduate fellow in Germany on 'Gender and Corruption'.