Gender and economic policy discussion forum XXXV

Penetration of information technologies and smartphones have made debates surrounding embodiment, technological bodies and data governance ever more pressing. Gadgets, technologies and media are increasingly becoming part of our bodies and embodiment. Humans are no longer just their physical bodies but these are increasingly mediated through technology. In addition to aiding our interaction, perception and communication, technological advancement has ensured that data emerging from individual bodies is consistently fed into global flows of information capital. Notably, data and technology-mediated governance imposes several threats to our bodies and individual freedoms by continuously encroaching upon multiple spheres of our lives. When conceptualised from a disembodied perspective, these systems can strengthen long term social inequalities and deepen identity-based discrimination. In the context of COVID-19, with increased surveillance and policy responses informed by ‘big data’ that simultaneously aims to protect ‘human bodies’ by constraining them and their mobility, it is ever more pertinent that data governance frameworks are informed through a perspective of embodiment. There is an urgent need for gender-sensitive data protection policies which adopts an embodied approach as the heightened surveillance in the wake of the pandemic has further intensified the policing of the data and bodies of the most vulnerable communities. This online discussion aims to understand ways to arrive at such an outcome.

Chair & Speaker:

• Bishakha Datta, Executive Director, Point of View, Mumbai

Speakers:

• Dr Anja Kovac, Director, Internet Democracy Project
• Rohini Lakshane, Technologist and Public policy researcher
• Brindaalakshmi K, Queer-feminist researcher