Making Voices Heard
by Shweta Mohandas
Voice User Interface, Privacy, Accessibility, Internet Governance, Research, Featured, Homepage
We are happy to announce the launch of our final report on the study 'Making Voices Heard: Privacy, Inclusivity, and Accessibility of Voice Interfaces in India. The study was undertaken with support from the Mozilla Corporation.
by Aayush Rathi, Akash Sheshadri and Ambika Tandon
Gender, Research, Platform Economy, Peer Reviewed Article, Domestic Work, Researchers at Work
Aayush Rathi and Akash Sheshadri and Ambika Tandon co-authored a research paper on 'Feminist Design Practices' which was published in a special issue of Apria, a peer-reviewed journal hosted at ArtEZ University. The special issue "Feminist by Design" highlights the work of the Feminist Internet Research Network and its contributions to building an equitable internet through design interventions.
Between Platform and Pandemic: Migrants in India's Gig Economy
by Kaarika Das and Srravya C
Future of Work, RAW Blog, Research, CISRAW, RAW Research, Researchers at Work
In response to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in India, the central government announced a nationwide lockdown in March 2020.
Sameet Panda - Data Systems in Welfare: Impact of the JAM Trinity on Pension & PDS in Odisha during COVID-19
by Sameet Panda
Welfare Governance, Data Systems, Homepage, Research, Featured, Gender, Welfare, and Privacy, Researchers at Work
This study by Sameet Panda tries to understand the integration of data and digital systems in welfare delivery in Odisha. It brings out the impact of welfare digitalisation on beneficiaries through primary data collected in November 2020. The researcher is thankful to community members for sharing their lived experiences during course of the study. Fieldwork was undertaken in three panchayats of Bhawanipatna block of Kalahandi district, Odisha. Additional research support was provided by Apurv Vivek and Vipul Kumar, and editorial contributions were made by Ambika Tandon (Senior Researcher, CIS). This study was conducted as part of a project on gender, welfare, and surveillance, supported by Privacy International, UK.
Reclaiming the right to privacy: Researching the intersection of privacy and gender
by Ambika Tandon and Aayush Rathi
Data Systems, Reproductive and Child Health, Research, Gender, Welfare, and Privacy, Researchers at Work
It was our privilege to be supported by Privacy International, UK, during 2019-2020, to undertake a research project focusing on reproductive health and data surveillance, and to engage on related topics with national civil society groups. Our partner organisations who led some of the research as part of this project are grassroots actors - Domestic Workers Rights Union, Migrant Workers Solidarity Network, Parichiti, Samabhabona, Rainbow Manipur, and Right to Food Campaign. Here we are compiling the various works supported by this project co-led by Ambika Tandon, Aayush Rathi, and Sumandro Chattapadhyay at the Centre for Internet and Society, India.
Parichiti - Domestic Workers' Access to Secure Livelihoods in West Bengal
by Anchita Ghatak
Gig Work, Research, Network Economies, Publications, Gender, Welfare, and Privacy, Researchers at Work
This report by Anchita Ghatak of Parichiti presents findings of a pilot study conducted by the author and colleagues to document the situation of women domestic workers (WDWs) in the lockdown and the initial stages of the lifting of restrictions. This study would not have been possible without the WDWs who agreed to be interviewed for this study and gave their time generously. We are grateful to Dr Abhijit Das of the Centre for Health and Social Justice for his advice and help. The report is edited by Aayush Rathi and Ambika Tandon, and this work forms a part of the CIS's project on gender, welfare and surveillance supported by Privacy International, United Kingdom.
Data Lives of Humanities Text
by Puthiya Purayil Sneha
Research, Researchers at Work, Publications, Digital Humanities
The 'computational turn' in the humanities has brought with it several questions and challenges for traditional ways of engaging with the 'text' as an object of enquiry. The prevalence of data-driven scholarship in the humanities offers several challenges to traditional forms of work and practice, with regard to theory, tools, and methods. In the context of the digital, 'text' acquires new forms and meanings, especially with practices such as distant reading. Drawing upon excerpts from an earlier study on digital humanities in India, this essay discusses how data in the humanities is not a new phenomenon; concerns about the 'datafication' of humanities, now seen prominently in digital humanities and related fields is actually reflective of a longer conflict about the inherited separation between humanities and technology. It looks at how 'data' in the humanities has become a new object of enquiry as a result of several changes in the media landscape in the past few decades. These include large-scale digitalization and availability of corpora of materials (digitized and born-digital) in an array of formats and across varied platforms, thus leading to also a steady prevalence of the use of computational methods in working with and studying cultural artifacts today. This essay also explores how reading 'text as data' helps understand the role of data in the making of humanities texts and redefines traditional ideas of textuality, reading, and the reader.
IFAT and ITF - Locking Down the Impact of Covid-19
by Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) and International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), New Delhi office
Digital Economy, Researchers at Work, Digital Labour, Covid19, Research, Platform-Work, Featured, Homepage
This report, by Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) and International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), New Delhi office, explores the responses to the outbreak of Covid-19 by digital platform based companies, trade unions, and governments to help out workers for digital platform based companies hereafter app based workers during the lockdown. The research work in this article is a characterization of the struggles of app based workers during the global pandemic and how it has affected and changed the world of work for them. The surveys were conducted amongst the workforce working for app based companies like Ola, Uber, Swiggy, Zomato etc. This study is partially supported by CIS as part of the Feminist Internet Research Network led by the Association for Progressive Communications.
IFAT and ITF - Protecting Workers in the Digital Platform Economy: Investigating Ola and Uber Drivers' Occupational Health and Safety
Between July to November 2019, Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) and International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), New Delhi office, conducted 2,128 surveys across 6 major cities: Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Jaipur, and Lucknow, to determine the occupational health and safety of app-based transport workers. CIS is proud to publish the study report and the press release. Akash Sheshadri, Ambika Tandon, and Aayush Rathi of CIS supported post-production of this report.
Raina Roy and Abhiraj Bag - Kolkata's trans community has been locked out of healthcare and livelihood
by Raina Roy and Abhiraj Bag
Gender, Covid19, Research, Gender, Welfare, and Privacy, Researchers at Work
Over six months into the outbreak of Covid-19 in India, it has become clear that the pandemic does not affect everybody equally. It has amplified the sufferings of the already-marginalised trans community. Raina Roy spoke to 10 trans persons and trans rights activists in Kolkata over the course of the past few months to better understand the situation. The piece was transcribed by Abhiraj Bag and edited by Kaarika Das and Srravya C, researchers at the Centre for Internet and Society, India. This work is part of a project at CIS on gender, welfare and surveillance, supported by Privacy International, United Kingdom.
Digital Knowledge
Internet Histories
Network Economies
Web Cultures