-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: [AISWorld] CFP: Understanding local social processes in ICT4D
research (Special Issue: Information Technology for Development)
Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2022 08:43:22 +0000
From: Efpraxia Zamani <efzamani(a)gmail.com>
To: aisworld(a)lists.aisnet.org
* Special Issue Call for Papers *
Information Technology for Development
Title: Understanding local social processes in ICT4D research - deadline
extended to 15 March 2022
The 1990s debates about the role the Internet played on different human
development dimensions gave rise to the Information and Communication
Technologies for Development (ICT4D) field. Existing research shows that
digital technology can make a difference in people’s lives. ICT has the
potential to empower marginalized individuals and groups, supporting
social inclusion (Baron & Gomez, 2013; Díaz Andrade & Doolin, 2016) and
financial inclusion (Diniz, Bailey & Sholler, 2014; Joia & dos Santos,
2019). It also allows them to participate in mainstream socio-economic
activities (Mthoko & Pade-Khene, 2013; Armenta et al., 2013; Krauss,
2013). These positive outcomes may result in the perception that digital
technology is the ‘cure-all’ for diverse societal problems. However,
development is not a straightforward issue that can be solved simply by
introducing digital technology (Lwoga & Sangeda, 2018). ICT4D is about
the local interpretations of development and understanding of local
processes involved in delivering development (Unwin, 2009).
In this special issue, we would like to draw attention to the social
processes in which ICT4D research projects occur. Presently, most ICT4D
studies occur in developing countries in the Global South and many focus
on describing ICT4D interventions. However, most of those studies draw
from theories developed and applied in the Global North, such as
institutional theory (Bass, Nicholson, & Subhramanian, 2013) or
technology acceptance (Thomas, Li, & Oliveira, 2017), among others.
While drawing upon such theories can, of course, help us understand
emerging phenomena, context cannot be ignored (Andoh-Baidoo, 2017;
Davison & Martinsons, 2016). ICT4D research requires deliberate
attention to the conditions in the field. Equally critical in ICT4D
analyses is the choice and application of theories, whether deductively
(to guide the investigation) or inductively (to discuss the findings).
Both discerning contextual conditions and careful consideration of
theory are conducive to understand the local meaning of development.
Theorizing and employing theory in different settings is a social
practice, an act informed by the socio-cultural conditions of the time
(Horkheimer, 1982). Against this background, we argue that the phenomena
that inform ICT4D research directions, portray specific ways of valuing
and thinking that are typically informed by discourses from ‘developed
nations’, and which often ignore local contexts, culture and historicity
(Ndhlovu, 2017). ‘Imported’ conceptualizations often fail to account for
the different ways of knowing in the Global South (Connell, 2014),
making the simplistic one-to-one translation of categories, paradigms,
meanings, and reasonings from one context to another a pointless
exercise – e.g., from Europe to India (Chakrabarty, 2000). However,
ICT4D research is a moving target. For example, an influential
perspective that shaped what we do in ICT4D is the idea that there are
developing and developed countries, First and Third world countries,
North and South, Western and non-Western, etc. This dichotomous
categorization is diminishing. Furthermore, problems of deprivation are
not unique to the Global South; ICT4D research acknowledges the
vulnerability of marginalized communities in the Global North (Loh &
Chib, 2019) and the multidimensional nature of development (Qureshi,
Noteboom & Schumaker, 2015). The rise of ICT4D research informed by
non-Western philosophies (Jimenez & Roberts, 2019) and recent calls for
research on Indigenous theories (Davison & Díaz Andrade, 2018) herald
the presence of more endemic research in the information systems field.
Regardless of geographical location, awareness of contextual
circumstances is needed in theorizing and using theory in ICT4D research
(Avgerou, 2017). (Our understanding of theorizing and use of theory
includes different categories of theory (Gregor, 2006))
In this special issue, we invite authors to explore relevant questions
that will help the ICT4D community understand the local social processes
that explain ICT4D phenomena. Submissions that explore and challenge
dominant research directions and goals, and that help articulate
research practices that underpin success stories and ICT4D failures are
particularly welcome.
Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Contextualizing of established theories and methodologies in ICT4D
research
- Endemic theories and epistemologies for ICT4D
- Local understandings of ICT-enabled development
- Localized examples, narratives or data-driven ICT4D case studies
- Studies on the local culture of ICT4D research
- Critical engagement with hegemonic tendencies in ICT4D research
- Self-reflexive narratives about ICT4D research experiences
* Guest Editors *
Kirstin Krauss, University of South Africa (UNISA)
Efpraxia D. Zamani, The University of Sheffield
Antonio Díaz Andrade, Auckland University of Technology
* Important Deadlines *
Manuscript deadline: March 15, 2022
Notification of decision: June 30, 2022
Deadline for revised papers: October 31, 2022
Notification of final acceptance: February 28, 2023
Tentative publication date: May 31, 2023
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