10.6092/issn.2038-3460/17064
application/pdf
2038-3460
17064
2
en
Gianluca Miscione
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/
Tecnoscienza – Italian Journal of Science & Technology Studies
Herman Galperin and Judith Mariscal (eds.), Pobreza Digital: Perspectivas de America Latina y el Caribe, CIDE, 2009
Text.Serial.Journal
https://tecnoscienza.unibo.it/
3
Book Reviews
2013-01-06
2023-05-28
2013-01-06
2023-07-14
186-188
TS
Gianluca Miscione
2012
10.6092/issn.2038-3460/17064
186
University College Dublin
2038-3460
2
en
188
Herman Galperin and Judith Mariscal (eds.), Pobreza Digital: Perspectivas de America Latina y el Caribe, CIDE, 2009
https://tecnoscienza.unibo.it/article/download/17064/15952
3
186   BOOK REVIEWS




      should decide, where and about             Herman Galperin and Judith Mariscal
      what?). “Imaginaries”, in this                          (eds.)
      extended meaning echoing current
      works in the field of Science and           Pobreza Digital – Perspectivas
      Technology Studies (Jasanoff and            de America Latina y el Caribe
      Kim, 2010), then appear as powerful
      analytical tools for the description of             2009, CIDE, 213 pp.
      technological programs, while also
      helping us locate the sites where the
      political issues of nanotechnology are               Gianluca Miscione
      made explicit. In this perspective,               (University College Dublin)
      imaginaries are less pervasive
      “structures” defining our perceptions      I would like to start this review by
      of the past and the future than            situating my viewpoint. Likely, I was
      instrumented assemblages, which            asked to read this book because of
      practically construct technical objects    my long lasting interest to conduct
      and social practices. Understanding        research ‘beyond’ the digital divide.
      imaginaries as such relocates the          A decade ago, when I started my
      political issues of nanotechnology at      PhD research on a telemedicine
      the heart of the making of objects         system in the Peruvian upper
      and visions. It might offer a path for     amazon, it sounded ‘exotic’ -to say
      the practical elaboration of the           the least- to my colleagues and
      “partnership” between the artificial       supervisors. Indeed, the digital divide
      and the natural with which Marina          problem proved to be “out there” as
      Maestrutti concludes her book.             much as in the tacit empirical
                                                 assumption that the amazon is not a
                                                 relevant setting to study telemedicine
      Reference                                  from an organizational perspective.
                                                 Subsequent success of that research
      Jasanoff, S. and Kim, S.-H. (2009)         proved that ‘digital divide’ is a ‘real’
          Containing the atom. Sociotechnical    problem (still in search for solutions)
          imaginaries and nuclear power in the   as much as a reflexive problem for
          United States and South Korea, in
                                                 research practice, often too slow in
          “Minerva”, 47, pp. 119-146.
                                                 revising own assumptions.
                                                 This book addresses the former issue
                                                 but overlooks the latter, which could
                                                 be quite relevant for Tecnoscienza
                        ***
                                                 readership.
                                                 Overall,       “Pobreza        Digital.
                                                 Perspectivas de America Latina y el
                                                 Caribe” [Digital Poverty. Perspec-
                                                 tives from Latin America and the
                                                 Caribbean] focuses on an important
                                                 issue, both for research and practice.
                                                        TECNOSCIENZA – 2 (2)        187




In fact, it is true that market          relevance of an adequate regulative
economy has been contributing            environment       is      argued      as
greatly to lifting out of poverty a      determinant. Chapter five pull the
remarkable portion of the world          treads of sustainability by articulating
population, but it achieved that also    three different domains: basis, users
exacerbating inequalities. Acknow-       and technology. Finally, chapter six
ledging this lays underneath the ‘pro-   proposes pro-poor ICT strategies
poor’ stance of this collection of       and research. As argued later, policy
works.                                   makers are those who may benefit
This book is articulated in six          most by the research models and
chapters. The first introduces the       strategies proposed here.
reader to the idea of digital poverty    An important aim of these works is
and puts down the cornerstones for       to measure the unmeasured (Déjean
its measurement. Key stakeholders        et al.: 2004). This is not pursued
(private sector, government, benefi-     according to a simple positivistic
ciaries) are considered. Chapter two     approach of finding what the reality
looks at the demand side of ICT and      is. Saetnan and colleagues (2010) ask
applies an econometric scheme to         “for whom the bell curves?” hinting
Peru’. This part is well done            at the mutual construction of
according to standard research           statistics and society. Here, authors
techniques, but overlooks a key issue    aim at curving the bell in a specific
about ICT demand among poor              way: Authors are well aware that
people: how to identify demand? Is it    measures allow fostering pro-poor
based on expressed need? On actual       policy claims, therefore they can
need, perhaps derived by comparing       affect the agendas in policy making
to other average values? How to          arenas.
discriminate need from desire? It is     In this sense, this book is quite
known that in developing economies       articulated, chapter two in particular.
non-necessary goods may substitute       So, the natural audience for this
basic services (I myself saw flat TV     publication comprises policy makers
sets in accommodations without           and practitioners at all levels. Also
sanitation). Chapter three offers an     Spanish speaking people appro-
overview on the changes across Latin     aching issues related to the digital
American ICT markets, paying             divide may find this collection useful,
specific attention to big companies.     even though they will have to look
Then, it is showed how the               somewhere else to gain a more
privatization     of    the     sector   complete overview.
contributed substantially to increased   In my opinion, researchers interested
penetration of ICT in Latin              in new understandings of digital
American societies, especially with      divide would find the scope of this
mobile phones. Chapter four seeks a      book a bit narrow. The problem I see
balance by looking at micro, and         is that critical assumptions are not
often grass-root, initiatives. The       questioned. Let me go into this
188   BOOK REVIEWS




      because I think that Tecnoscienza          By assuming acritically that ICT are
      readers may find it relevant. The          good, we would miss to realize how
      introduction to this book states that      the digital divide is in the eye of the
      “authors of this book accepted the         beholder also.
      challenge of thinking in creative ways     In conclusion I invite to reconsider
      and of exploring novel strategies to       the ageing notion of ‘digital divide’
      help solving the problems that digital     (and a recent re-incarnation in
      poverty creates in Latin America and       ‘digital poverty’) without scrutinizing
      the Caribbean” (p. 10). I have done        general concepts which showed
      quite some work in Latin America           limits, already. The consequences of
      and the problem I pinpoint here is         a more open-ended approach can be
      that poor people are depicted -or          far-fetched, but at the end of the day,
      simply assumed- to be in lack of           this is what social studies of
      something. I do not deny it, but I         technologies are about.
      find this a narrow view. The
      consequences are that homogenizing         References
      the problems results in homogenizing
      solutions. The risk is of what I call      Déjean, F., Gond, J. P. and Leca, B. (2004)
      here “Engineering the other”. Are all         Measuring       the    unmeasured:    An
      poor the same? Not always, not                institutional entrepreneur strategy in an
      necessarily. ICT are not a panacea.           emerging industry. , in “Human
                                                    Relations”, 57(6), pp. 741-764.
      Therefore, ‘Where can ICT help?’           Saetnan, A. R.., Hammer, S., and Lomell,
      “in which sectors?”, “with what               H. M. (2010) The Mutual Construction
      applications?”, “in what kinds of             of Statistics and Society, Routledge.
      organizations?” are among the
      discriminatory questions to ask.
      I now take a different angle on the                           ***
      same problem. Is being connected
      via ICT good? It depends on who
      and what one connects to. For sure                       Kristin Asdal
      ICT allow novel organizational                 Politikkens natur. Naturens
      forms, but this does not mean that                         politikk
      they are all good. There are plenty of       (The Nature of Politics. The Politics of
      services that are failures or a waste of                    Nature)
      time and resource, at least. Brazilian
      ex-president Lula stated, about the          2011, Universitetsforlaget, 304 pp.
      still unfolding economic crisis that “it
      has blue eyes”, meaning that western                 Håkon B. Stokland
      experts had no idea of the risks of           (Norwegian University of Science and
      what they were doing promoting                           Technology)
      tight interconnections of markets. So,
      how to learn from mistakes? How to
      discriminate?
