Cyber Selves Feminist Ethnographies of South Asian Women

by Gajjala, Radhika; Mamidipudi, Annapurna

• ISBN13: 9780759106918
• ISBN10: 0759106916
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-11-23
• Publisher: AltaMira Press

Summary

In her new book Gajjala examines online community formations and subjectivities that are produced at the intersection of technologies and globalization. She describes the process of designing and building cyberfeminist webs for South Asian women's communities, the generation of feminist cyber(auto)ethnographies, and offers a third-world critique of cyberfeminism. She ultimately views virtual communities as imbedded in real life communities and contexts, with human costs. The online discussions are visible, textual records of the discourses that circulate within real life communities. Her methodology involves a form of 'cyberethnography,' which explores the dialogic and disruptive possibilities of the virtual medium and of hypertext. Gajjala's work addresses the political, economic, and cultural ramifications of the Internet communication explosion. This book will be a valuable reference for those with an interest in cultural studies, feminist studies, and new technologies.

Author Biography

Radhika Gajjala is associate professor of communication studies at Bowling Green State University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Prologue: I Refuse to Be Read	xv
Introduction	1	(10)
PART ONE CYBORG-DIASPORA TO THE SAWNET REFUSAL
CHAPTER ONE Imagining Virtual Community and Dialogic Encounters	11	(8)
CHAPTER TWO The SAWnet Refusal	19	(10)
CHAPTER THREE Feminist Ethnography, Feminist Media Studies, and Internet Research	29	(16)
PART TWO BUILDING (SOUTH ASIAN) CYBERFEMINIST WEBS?
CHAPTER FOUR Interrogating Identities: Composing Other Cyberspaces	45	(22)
CHAPTER FIVE Building Cyberfeminist Webs	67	(14)
PART THREE CYBERFEMINISM AND THE "THIRD-WORLD" DIALOGUES
CHAPTER SIX Cyberfeminism,TechnOlogy, and International "Development"	81	(14)
Radhika Gajjala and Annapurna Mamidipudi
CHAPTER SEVEN Carving Disappearing Analogue/Digital "Selves"	95	(32)
Radhika Gajjala and Annapurna Mamidipudi
Epilogue: I Want to Curl up and Deny You	127	(6)
References	133	(14)
Index	147	(4)
About the Author	151