Special Guest Editorial on 'ICTs for Leisure in Development' is out now!

Nimmi Rangaswamy and I served as Guest editors for the Information Technologies and International Development Journal on the theme of 'ICTs for Leisure in Development.' This is a nice step towards our book  Poor@Play that is expected to come out with Harvard University Press in mid 2016.

So why this Special Issue? Well, contrary to the peripheral connotation of leisure, this Special Issue makes the case of it being central to technology adoption and use in the development context. In this issue, we put together various original research studies that reconceptualize ICT mobilization and serviceability to extend beyond a conservative understanding of developmental value. We strive to drive home the following points, namely:

• Leisure is a critical area of technology infusion that leads to discovery and magnification of digital literacies. Moreover, leisure offers an experimental space to informally diffuse learnings and impart social impacts that bind people and technologies.

• As mobile technologies move beyond urban areas and the upper classes who can afford them, it is essential to bring together stories about crafting technologies that include a spectrum of playful behaviors as mainstream ICTD research.

• The ICTD community at large is poised at a juncture where interdisciplinary crossings are pushing the boundaries of established themes and subject matters, providing an opportunity to move away from ICTD’s established viewpoints.

Authors for this Leisure in Development Special Section are:
• Pamela Abbott, Brunel University, UK
• Brian Ekdale, University of Iowa, USA
• Radhika Gajjala, Bowling Green State University, USA
• Beth Kolko, University of Washington, USA
• Elisa Oreglia, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
• Peppino Ortoleva, University of Torino, Italy
• Robert Racadio, University of Washington, USA
• Araba Sey, University of Washington, USA
• Dinah Tetteh, Bowling Green State University, USA
• Melissa Tully, University of Iowa, USA

Read these ITID articles published September 10, 2014 at http://itidjournal.org