IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/indgen/v28y2021i1p29-45.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is Mobile Phone Use Invading Multiple Boundaries? A Study of Rural Illiterate Women in India

Author

Listed:
  • Chhavi Garg

Abstract

Blurring various boundaries of age, place of residence (urban/rural) and sociocultural–economic factors, the mobile phone has become an integral part of everyday life of almost everyone in this world. Through the identification of differences in accessibility and use of technology including the mobile phone, a digital divide is seen to be emerging, and what is of great concern is the emergence of a digital gender divide. The article is based on a study of mobile phone use by rural illiterate women in India, exploring whether three different parameters, namely, place of residence (rural or urban), gender and illiteracy, are hindering the use of the mobile phone or not. Nearly 85 per cent of the rural illiterate women studied were found to be using a mobile phone without necessarily owning it. It was their quickest means of communication and receiving information. A further improvement such as a community radio through which interaction with the outside world can be facilitated should be encouraged.

Suggested Citation

  • Chhavi Garg, 2021. "Is Mobile Phone Use Invading Multiple Boundaries? A Study of Rural Illiterate Women in India," Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Centre for Women's Development Studies, vol. 28(1), pages 29-45, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:indgen:v:28:y:2021:i:1:p:29-45
    DOI: 10.1177/0971521520974845
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0971521520974845
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0971521520974845?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sekabira, Haruna & Qaim, Matin, 2017. "Can Mobile Phones Improve Gender Equality and Nutrition? Panel Data Evidence from Farm Households in Uganda," GlobalFood Discussion Papers 256215, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, GlobalFood, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
    2. Sekabira, Haruna & Qaim, Matin, 2017. "Can mobile phones improve gender equality and nutrition? Panel data evidence from farm households in Uganda," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 95-103.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Luc Jacolin & Joseph Keneck Massil & Alphonse Noah, 2021. "Informal sector and mobile financial services in emerging and developing countries: Does financial innovation matter?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(9), pages 2703-2737, September.
    2. Sikhulumile Sinyolo & Catherine Ndinda & Conrad Murendo & Sithembile A. Sinyolo & Mudzunga Neluheni, 2020. "Access to Information Technologies and Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables in South Africa: Evidence from Nationally Representative Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-17, July.
    3. Ezinne M. Emeana & Liz Trenchard & Katharina Dehnen-Schmutz, 2020. "The Revolution of Mobile Phone-Enabled Services for Agricultural Development (m-Agri Services) in Africa: The Challenges for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-27, January.
    4. Luo, Yu & Peng, Yuchao & Zeng, Lianyun, 2021. "Digital financial capability and entrepreneurial performance," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 55-74.
    5. Kristi Mahrt & Andrea Rossi & Vincenzo Salvucci & Finn Tarp, 2020. "Multidimensional Poverty of Children in Mozambique," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 13(5), pages 1675-1700, October.
    6. Martin C. Parlasca & Oliver Mußhoff & Matin Qaim, 2020. "Can mobile phones improve nutrition among pastoral communities? Panel data evidence from Northern Kenya," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(3), pages 475-488, May.
    7. Liu, Jian & Ren, Yanjun & Glauben, Thomas, 2021. "The effect of income inequality on nutritional outcomes: Evidence from rural China," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 22(3), pages 125-143.
    8. Kabbiri, Ronald & Dora, Manoj & Kumar, Vikas & Elepu, Gabriel & Gellynck, Xavier, 2018. "Mobile phone adoption in agri-food sector: Are farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa connected?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 253-261.
    9. Michel Kabirigi & Haruna Sekabira & Zhanli Sun & Frans Hermans, 2023. "The use of mobile phones and the heterogeneity of banana farmers in Rwanda," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(6), pages 5315-5335, June.
    10. Yangyang Sun & Daxin Dong & Yulian Ding, 2021. "The Impact of Dietary Knowledge on Health: Evidence from the China Health and Nutrition Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-17, April.
    11. Kabirigi, Michel & Abbasiharofteh, Milad & Sun, Zhanli & Hermans, Frans, 2022. "The importance of proximity dimensions in agricultural knowledge and innovation systems: The case of banana disease management in Rwanda," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    12. Lang Wang & Yuping Chen & Shijun Ding, 2022. "Examining the Impact of Digital Finance on Farmer Consumption Inequality in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-16, October.
    13. Chrisendo, Daniel & Siregar, Hermanto & Qaim, Matin, 2022. "Oil palm cultivation improves living standards and human capital formation in smallholder farm households," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    14. Gershom Endelani Mwalupaso & Xu Tian & Xianhui Geng, 2020. "Rethinking Food Production: Nexus of Mobile Phones and Production Cost Minimization," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-12, April.
    15. Nurul Atiqah Binti Mohd Suib & Norlida Hanim Mohd Salleh & Mohd Fazim Ahmad, 2023. "The economic well-being of smallholders and challenges during COVID-19 pandemic: A review," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 69(1), pages 35-44.
    16. Evans, Olaniyi, 2018. "Digital Agriculture: Mobile Phones, Internet & Agricultural Development in Africa," MPRA Paper 90359, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Haruna Sekabira & Shamim Nalunga, 2020. "Farm Production Diversity: Is It Important for Dietary Diversity? Panel Data Evidence from Uganda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-21, January.
    18. Ningan Yang & Yawen Ding & Shi Min & Junfei Bai, 2022. "Does rubber expansion hinder the migration of rural labor? Evidence from southwest China?," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 1108-1131, May.
    19. Min, Shi & Wang, Xiaobing & Bai, Junfei & Waibel, Hermann, 2021. "Married to rubber? Evidence from the expansion of natural rubber in Southwest China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    20. Amy Quandt & Jonathan D Salerno & Jason C Neff & Timothy D Baird & Jeffrey E Herrick & J Terrence McCabe & Emilie Xu & Joel Hartter, 2020. "Mobile phone use is associated with higher smallholder agricultural productivity in Tanzania, East Africa," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(8), pages 1-16, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:indgen:v:28:y:2021:i:1:p:29-45. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.