Gender and Technology Beyond W.E.I.R.D.

Feminist thought is a natural ally to the design of technologies because of its central commitments to agency, fulfillment, identity, equity, empowerment, and social justice. However, terms such as “agency” and “empowerment”, which are central to any discourse on feminist thought and design, are often understood in Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic (WEIRD) terms. And as a result, agency and resistance are often seen only in specific “Western” ways of being and doing, and technology design only focuses on these behaviors. In this lecture, we will discuss what the process of empowerment of women outside of the Global North looks like, and how technologies are leveraged to amplify resistance and circumnavigate patriarchal norms. We will discuss the work exploring the diverse ways of exerting agency and the shapes that feminism takes outside the Global North, and how technologies can and are empowering women beyond the WEIRD world view.

Maryam Mustafa (she/her) is an Assistant Professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences in Pakistan. She has a PhD in Computer Science from the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany, and is a Fulbright scholar with a Master’s degree from Cornell University, New York, U.S.A. Her research interests are in human-computer interaction (HCI), and Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D). Her focus is on designing, building, and evaluating novel interactive systems with underserved populations in the Global South, with a specific focus on the gendered design of technologies in patriarchal contexts.

This lecture is part of the Coding Resistance lecture series:

September 24, 2021 | 3 pm CEST
Outing and Outsmarting Discriminating Algorithms
with Nakeema Stefflbauer

October 01, 2021 | 3 pm CEST
Back to the Future of the African Village
with Minna Salami

October 08, 2021 | 3 pm CEST
Gender and Technology Beyond W.E.I.R.D.
with Maryam Mustafa

October 15, 2021 | 3 pm CEST
Glimmering Opacities: From Queering The Map to QT.bot
with Lucas LaRochelle

October 22, 2021 | 3 pm CEST
Emancipation Through the Virtual
with Iyo Bisseck

October 30, 2021 | 4 pm CEST
Make Time to Take Time
with Morehshin Allahyari

November 05, 2021 | 3 pm CEST
Interdependence as a Political Technology
with Aimi Hamraie

November 12, 2021 | 3 pm CEST
Digital Colonialism and Palestinian Resistance
with Marwa Fatafta

November 19, 2021 | 6 pm CEST
Towards Justice, Equity and Accountability in AI
with Timnit Gebru