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Training program for researchers

Pays: India
(fr) Created By: mrethen on 13 mai 2008 07:19

Context: Communications technologies inherently have the potential to expand or constrain public access and spaces. When cinemas were introduced in Tamil Nadu, cinema halls were the first performance theatre in which all sat under the same roof (Sivathambi: 1981). The basis of the seating was essentially based on one’s purchasing power. Similarly, telecentre do provide common space in which the poor and marginalised can articulate their needs and entitlements and increase their capabilities to fight against deficiency of resources. Telecentres, when inclusive, can act as a public space which allows debate and triggers improved flows of information and dialogue within, to and from the target population, rather than just a point through which users can access information produced elsewhere. Panos’ experience shows that inclusive communication approaches and public spaces are important for social inclusion, itself a precondition for poverty reduction and economic growth. Therefore it is important for ‘the second wave’ to take this aspect of telecentres into account. Such telecentres, Panos believes, can have a significant impact on social cohesion and on the inclusion of, and benefits to, marginalised groups within communities, including women and, in India, lower caste groups.  Currently, there is little research into the impact of inclusive public spaces on information and communication projects. Panos London’s Telecentres as Public spaces project – with funding support from Telecentre.org and DFID - addresses this gap.

Project: The project will undertake primary research in twelve rural communities in India to collect data on the use and impact of telecentres on the socially marginalized.  The methodology will be a combination of focus-group discussions, in-depth unstructured interviews and ethnographic observation to find out when and how telecentres could become socially more inclusive.

The event: Twelve ethnographers and four researchers will be trained for the purpose of this research. Panos London has identified researchers and ethnographers from Assam, New Delhi, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. A three day training programme will be organised at IDRC, SARO office from 30th of May. The workshop will set the context on the role of social inclusion in telecentre movements, the effect of humiliation on development opportunities and the role of technologies in empowering the marginalised. Mock ethnographic observations, focus group discussions and interviews will help researchers build their capacities to do their field work for this project and beyond.   

Reference:Sivathamby, Karthigesu (1981) Tamil Film as a Medium of Political Communication Madras: New Century Book House.

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