Technology Design, Socio-Technical Networks and the Creation of Individual Human Capabilities: The Case of a ‘Local Content, Local Voice’ Podcasting Project in Zimbabwe

Ilse Oosterlaken
Delft University of Technology / 3TU Centre for Ethics and Technology

The seminar uses the case of the ‘local content, local voice’ podcasting project on livestock management, implemented by Practical Action (formerly ITDG) in Zimbabwe, to illustrate (a) what normative perspective that the capability approach (CA) of Sen and Nussbaum – which centrally acknowledged the pervasiveness of human diversity – offers on technological development interventions, and (b) the role of both technological design and socio-technical networks in expanding the valuable individual human capabilities that the CA holds to be of central moral importance.

To get a proper understanding of such expansion, so it will be argued, the CA needs to be supplemented with insights from e.g. Science and Technology Studies and the Appropriate Technology movement. Finally, the talk also briefly addresses how broader politics may subtly influence technological choice/design, with implications for development outcomes.

All are welcome to attend.