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The politics of anti-poverty artefacts: lessons from the computerization of the food security system in Karnataka
The last few years have seen a rapid increase in the discussion of the role of new technologies in strengthening social safety nets. However, the hypothesis that technology design is intertwined with political agendas - aiming at instilling specific visions and policy objectives in anti-poverty prog...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Default Conference proceeding |
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2015
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/2134/22867 |
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| _version_ | 1822544321976467456 |
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| author | Silvia Masiero Amit Prakash |
| author_facet | Silvia Masiero Amit Prakash |
| author_sort | Silvia Masiero (2940726) |
| collection | Figshare |
| description | The last few years have seen a rapid increase in the discussion of the role of new technologies in strengthening social safety nets. However, the hypothesis that technology design is intertwined with political agendas - aiming at instilling specific visions and policy objectives in anti-poverty programmes - has remained to a large extent unexplored, being either taken as implicit or neglected by technical discourse. In this paper, we look at computerization of a large food security programme - the Public Distribution System in Karnataka, India - to argue that technology, far from simply affecting the functioning of existing processes, can be built to advance specific political agendas, which carry clear stances on the ways in which social welfare targets are to be reached. However, recipients? perception of these programmes depends highly on how technology affects access to their entitlements, which need therefore to be set at the core of anti-poverty technology design. The case study is used to draw lessons for policy, specifically aimed at countries embarking into computerization of their social safety nets. |
| format | Default Conference proceeding |
| id | rr-article-9501488 |
| institution | Loughborough University |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| record_format | Figshare |
| spelling | rr-article-95014882015-01-01T00:00:00Z The politics of anti-poverty artefacts: lessons from the computerization of the food security system in Karnataka Silvia Masiero (2940726) Amit Prakash (7198877) Other commerce, management, tourism and services not elsewhere classified E-governance Computerization Social safety nets Food security Public Distribution System India Karnataka Business and Management not elsewhere classified The last few years have seen a rapid increase in the discussion of the role of new technologies in strengthening social safety nets. However, the hypothesis that technology design is intertwined with political agendas - aiming at instilling specific visions and policy objectives in anti-poverty programmes - has remained to a large extent unexplored, being either taken as implicit or neglected by technical discourse. In this paper, we look at computerization of a large food security programme - the Public Distribution System in Karnataka, India - to argue that technology, far from simply affecting the functioning of existing processes, can be built to advance specific political agendas, which carry clear stances on the ways in which social welfare targets are to be reached. However, recipients? perception of these programmes depends highly on how technology affects access to their entitlements, which need therefore to be set at the core of anti-poverty technology design. The case study is used to draw lessons for policy, specifically aimed at countries embarking into computerization of their social safety nets. 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z Text Conference contribution 2134/22867 https://figshare.com/articles/conference_contribution/The_politics_of_anti-poverty_artefacts_lessons_from_the_computerization_of_the_food_security_system_in_Karnataka/9501488 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 |
| spellingShingle | Other commerce, management, tourism and services not elsewhere classified E-governance Computerization Social safety nets Food security Public Distribution System India Karnataka Business and Management not elsewhere classified Silvia Masiero Amit Prakash The politics of anti-poverty artefacts: lessons from the computerization of the food security system in Karnataka |
| title | The politics of anti-poverty artefacts: lessons from the computerization of the food security system in Karnataka |
| title_full | The politics of anti-poverty artefacts: lessons from the computerization of the food security system in Karnataka |
| title_fullStr | The politics of anti-poverty artefacts: lessons from the computerization of the food security system in Karnataka |
| title_full_unstemmed | The politics of anti-poverty artefacts: lessons from the computerization of the food security system in Karnataka |
| title_short | The politics of anti-poverty artefacts: lessons from the computerization of the food security system in Karnataka |
| title_sort | politics of anti-poverty artefacts: lessons from the computerization of the food security system in karnataka |
| topic | Other commerce, management, tourism and services not elsewhere classified E-governance Computerization Social safety nets Food security Public Distribution System India Karnataka Business and Management not elsewhere classified |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/2134/22867 |