ABSTRACT
The second case study in this book presents a fresh perspective on the complicated relationship between digital communication technologies and disadvantaged castes, such as Dalits in peri-urban Bangalore. It deepens the understanding of the experience and impact that mobile phones have had on the lives and livelihood of these historically deprived castes. The research is set in peri-urban Bangalore city around Electronics City, pictured by policy and popular perception as India’s “Silicon Valley.” Primary oral accounts from interviews across (i) Dalit households, (ii) Dalit entrepreneurs, and (iii) Dalit political activists, are read against conceptual and empirical perspectives in the literature on digital divide and information society. With these accounts, the study asks whether mobile phone technologies have simply bypassed or been insufficiently harnessed by Dalits in the region to overcome historic deprivation, and whether they have even assisted in the reinforcement of exclusions for some of these groups.
