Toward an impact‐driven framework to operationalize social justice and implement ICT4D in the field of information

Bharat Mehra

Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, 2023, vol. 74, issue 12, 1419-1436

Abstract: Information researchers can further social justice and social equity to meet the needs of minority and underserved populations experiencing intersecting modes of cultural marginalization. Scholars of information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) can find overlooked intersections with social justice in “community networking” research since the 1980s to overcome the digital divides between the haves and have‐nots. To frame social justice initiatives within a consolidated vision of ICT4D in the field of information, this article proposes an impact‐driven framework, expounded through five interrelated elements: why (motivations), with who (engaged constituencies), how (at external and internal levels to change traditional practices), and toward what (goal). It is explicated through select historical instances of “community networking” and digital divides, ICT4D, and social justice intersections. Significance of the elements is also demonstrated via this author's select information‐related social justice research conducted in the United States. The urgency for critical and reflective conversations is important owing to historically abstracted human information behavior theory development within information research outdated in multiple contextualized needs of contemporary times. Historically situating impact‐driven social justice research is important to further the relevance, existence, and growth of the information field as it strengthens its ties with ICT4D.

Date: 2023
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