Post-Welfare Mothers In Wi-Fi Zones

Abstract

This essay explores women and mobile intimacy through the story of “Neighborhoodworks.net” —a community-cooperative, never-launched Wi-Fi zone in Walnut Hills, Cincinnati—that intended to serve poor, unemployed, ambiguously raced single mothers whom project advocates called “Vanessa.” “Vanessa” is significant as a “post-welfare” figure of feminine poverty who individualizes what, at other moments in history, has been understood as a political problem that demanded remedy via collective action. I conclude by calling on feminist scholars to move beyond taken-for-granted notions about the rewards of mobile privatization, and instead, embrace political struggle.

Keywords:

• mobile privatization
• neoliberalism
• postfeminism
• welfare mothers
• Wi-Fi zones

Acknowledgements

Michelle would like to thank Dunja Antunovic for her excellent research assistance on this essay and Larissa Hjorth, Sun Sun Lim and the anonymous reviewers, as well as Russell Frank and Dunja for their comments on earlier drafts of this essay.

Notes

1. Wi-Fi allows wireless internet access through enabled devices; the referent “Wi-Fi” was conjured by a branding company in 1999.

2. Gramsci's “common sense” refers to ideas that ring true in a folkloric sense (Antonio Gramsci 1971).

3. The other nine interviewees included one unemployed man, one employed man, and seven women who lived on disability or social security. Because transportation and childcare were challenges for “Vanessas,” Atkinson explained, they are typically difficult to schedule for interviews. Four interviews were one-on-one; two group interviews included three people each.

4. The Wi-Fi zone was first discussed at the “Neighborhood Technology Summit” in 1999. The Wi-Fi zone failed to go live because of problems securing funding and changing technological standards for Wi-Fi. Early plans envisioned providing low-income residents with refurbished computers, donated by area companies.

5. I once asked Mr. Moore about whether “Vanessa” was named after the acronym of his agency, and although he did not answer the question directly, his nonverbal cues encouraged me to change the subject (personal communication, April 22, 2005).

6. The author retains a copy of the Neighborhoodworks' 2004 TOP grant. TOP was a federally funded grant program, administered through the Department of Commerce. The program stopped receiving appropriations in 2004.