While women continue to make essential contributions to the development of community-centred connectivity initiatives worldwide, they still face challenges that echo structural power imbalances and historical inequalities.
Digital technologies and decision-making processes are typically designed by men, with no gender-responsive lens. As an extension of the society in which they are embedded, these processes often reflect the normalisation of centuries of structural exclusion and violence. And these are always related to factors such as gender, race, class and nationality, among others.
The voices of women offer important reflections on the barriers they face – but also highlight how they overcome them. As protagonists in this field, they also offer a deep knowledge of the achievements and challenges faced by community networks in different contexts.
Episode 2 of the new season of the Routing for Communities podcast is on the air! Join us on an audio journey as we explore fundamental questions in the field of community networks, seen through the perspectives of women from a range of countries who play various roles – from hands-on technical work to national and international advocacy for better policies and regulation.
>>> Read the transcript of the episode: https://routingforcommunities.apc.org/
>>> In our first season, you listened to life stories of those who create innovative, community-led projects that connect the one-third of humankind that is still living offline. Throughout the 12 episodes, we talked to more than 20 people from 15 countries. The topic provided us with a lot of content, so we decided to extend the conversation into one more season for you. Listen to all the 12 episodes from the first season of Routing for Communities podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3MeB39Vt5LkdaM9XO2t3pY?si=aef0cbd02f1643cc
In this second episode of season 2, you will listen to parts of the following stories from the previous season:
Casa dos Meninos | Brazil: https://open.spotify.com/episode/25tbBtyzSSF0nHvmrDuR7B?si=23fb77a4d0ea4ae9
Wiki Katat | Mexico: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2aabv0oEJ3wLqsvUp9nuNC?si=bc66de541d5c43e6
TunapandaNet | Kenya: https://open.spotify.com/episode/443Vi9To3PnyYSQiIfdaIt?si=d07ff6d273774091
QuintanaLibre | Argentina: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ymHKkofeVGyLaY3EjoLcg?si=1fc31d85ee404992
>>> We recommend:
SPACE: The mentorship programme addressing gendered experiences in access policy and regulation building
Community networks and women circles: The gift of being in togetherness
Video “Women circles: The art of togetherness”
Nodes that Bond book (about women circles methodology and experience in Brazil)
GenderIT special edition on infrastructures of resistance
Credits
This podcast is an initiative from the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and Rhizomatica, produced by Rádio Tertúlia. Presentation: Thiago Moyano. Script, editing and sound: Beatriz Pasqualino. Interviews: Vivian Fernandes. Coordination: Beatriz Pasqualino and Débora Prado. Consulting Board: Cynthia El Khoury, Luisa Bagope, Flavia Fascendini and Kathleen Diga. Illustrations: Gustavo Nascimento. Webdesign: Avi Nash and Cathy Chen.
This production is part of the “Meaningful community-centred connectivity” project being implemented by the Local Networks (LocNet) initiative, with financial support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and UK International Development from the UK Government through its Digital Access Programme. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the supporters’ views.
