A new era for women? Some reflections on blind spots of ICT-based development projects for women’s entrepreneurship and empowerment

Abstract

This article deals with women’s empowerment through the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in development projects. In paying special attention to female visibility in the public sphere and to women’s marginalization in the labor market, the article analyzes the shortcomings in ICT-related projects’ conceptualization; in particular in those projects that employ ICT to support female entrepreneurship in the name of women’s empowerment. It presents theoretical, methodological and ethical arguments for a feminist engagement with contemporary trends in development policy.

Keywords:

• Female Entrepreneurship
• international development policy
• e-commerce
• women’s empowerment
• ICT
• gender equality

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the Institute for the Study of Science, Technology and Innovation of the University of Edinburgh for hosting her as visiting research fellow in 2017, as well as to the anoynmous reviewers for their suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Irem Güney-Frahm

Irem Güney-Frahm works primarily on questions of gender and development and is currently based in Switzerland. She has studied economics, European studies and gender studies in Istanbul, Bath and Berlin.