Gender,Technology and Development

Philosophies of international science have been challenged by some aspects of the emer gence of various kinds of local knowledge movements and also by overt criticisms of the central concepts and principles of those philosophies. This essay looks at the strengths and limitations of three pro-democratic local knowledge movements and at the scientific and political dysfunctionality of the philosophic idea that modem sciences represent a unique unity of all legitimated scientific knowledge, and that such knowledge is thus uniquely uni versally valid. The projects of the local knowledge movements must be linked to the cri tiques of the philosophies of international science for each to make maximally useful contributions to pro-democratic social relations.

Literate but unskilled—and largely female—labor has thus far fuelled the tremendous increase in manufactured exports of garments and microelectronic products from the Third World to the industrially-advanced economies of the North. The future growth of these sectors, however, may require literate and skilled workers—a category in which women are woefully under-represented, especially in the Third World. In the case of the garment industry, defensive innovation in industrially-advanced countries, including automation and flexible management, has initiated a relocation of jobs to these countries or to offshore locations geographically close to their markets. Automated garment produc tion in these countries requires fewer but computer-literate workers. In the case of micro electronics, development policies of EastAsian countries and the competitive pressures on start-up companies in the North have led to an increased demand for computer-literate, skilled technicians over the unskilled and overwhelmingly female workforce of manual- assembly workers. Women's continued employment and advancement in these industries globally will depend upon their acquisition of new technical skills. The ratification by the 1995 international women's conference at Beijing of the demand for better access to edu cation and skills training for women, especially in the Third World, is a step in the right direction.

Housing is not only a technological product, it is also a product of culture and gender rela tions. Gender differentiation in the means adopted to meet basic needs, access to religious spaces, social interaction, ownership and inheritance systems is reflected in built technol ogy, affecting housing elements like the quality and size of space. And just as gender differ entiation affects the structure of the house, so also the structure of the house reveals existing hierarchies and perpetuates differential access to opportunities. It adds to difficul ties in sharing household responsibility and comes in the way of efficiently running the household, affecting women's health and reinforcing existing gender relations. This paper studies gender relations as they affect housing in the case of the Newar community of Khokana village in Nepal. To highlight key points, illustrative examples are taken from a Karen and an Isan village in Thailand.

This paper presents the preliminary results of a study by the Gender Working Group, Indo nesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), on women's contribution to, and benefits to women from, science, engineering and technology (SET), specifically the benefits accruing to dis advantaged women in urban and rural areas in Indonesia. Previous studies on the parti cipation of women in SET have shown the under-representation of women in all SET activities, including decision-making and advisory positions. However, some studies have shown that if gender perspectives are included in the design and implementation of devel opment activities, disadvantaged women in urban and rural areas could greatly benefit from SET in development projects. The two case studies in North Sulawesi and Central Lombok provinces show that the projects have enabled the expansion of employment opportunities for women and thus increased their technical skills and income. In addition, the projects have also contributed to enhancing women's self-confidence, self-reliance and communication skills.