Gender, Technology and Rural Development: An Ethical Perspective, in Journal of Rural Development and Administration, Vol. XXXII, No. 1, Winter 2000

Adeel, M.A.

In this brief paper the author defines the key terms and gives both the theoretical and pragmatic critique of the 'modernist' attitudes. The author takes into account how the modernist western approach not only conquered nature through mechanized technology but also effectively exploited and plundered many other societies. This process of 'social engineering' treated human beings at par with objects. Throughout the modern period there have been three types of technologies: productive, military and care technology. This paradigm has tended to exclude women from both the productive and military technologies, allowing them to play a part only in the care technology, which has led to lack of 'feminine' values and aesthetic appeal of technology within society. The author argues that our attitudes have been under going a severe change, and moving towards the 'post-modern' era. This leads to revival of ethical rights and duties, relinking knowledge with virtue, removal of gender barriers and replacement of exogenous development models with endogenous models.

Key Words: Gender, Technology, Rural Development, Ethics, Modernism, and Post-Modernism