Tom Abeles writes:
>>Dr. Steve Eskow wrote (in part) >Personal or social computing: which is the right road for those without >computers and their benefits to get access to them? > ====================================================== I am not sure that this is the question. The first question to ask is the one to ourselves which seeks to unravel just how much of our cultural values we are imposing on this and related issues.>> And then, of course, Tom Abeles goes on to list a the correct questions and the correct answers and the correct agenda--all of which, of course, reflect the cultural values he would like to impose on the debate and its outcomes. So: perhaps it is time we recognize the log in our own eyes: we with computers and a membership to the Digital Divide Network are all part of the "new Elite," and our differences reflect only intra-Elite factionalism. None of us, including the most fervent defender of local cultures, are immune from the infection of "cultural values." So perhaps the first question is not that of Dr. Abeles, but this: When we advocate for the narrowing or closing of the digital divide gap, is that advocacy itself a foisting of our "cultural values" on the rest of the world? It can be so construed. There is a subtle form of insult in this concern for respecting the cultural values of "the Other." If we say to poor communities around the world, here are these machines called computers, and here is what they can do, and here is what is involved, respect for them includes allowing them to decide for themselves whether the introduction of these devices imperils their "cultural values." My own work around the world has taught me that if I present the new possibilities humbly but directly, the people involved are quite capable of deciding whether the ideas and the technologies clash with their cultural values, and quite willing to make those values explicit. Steve Eskow [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
