Representation in Blog Discourse: The Politics of Belonging—Who Can Speak and Whose Inequality Is Represented?

This chapter adopts a material-discursive approach to analysing the Nigerian female blogosphere, linking access to digital infrastructure with socio-demographic and ideological factors that shape women’s participation online. Drawing on Nancy Fraser’s theory of representation, traditionally applied to transnational feminist activities, the chapter examines its applicability in understanding the politics of representation within Nigeria’s digital context. The analysis highlights how digital access, gender, age, ethnicity, education, and geographical region intersect to produce digital inequalities, shaping who engages in online discourse and how they participate. The study reveals that woman from urban, southern regions—often younger and more educated—dominate the blogosphere, while those from rural areas and northern regions are significantly underrepresented. Barriers such as limited access to technology, lower education levels, and restrictive cultural norms exacerbate this digital divide. These disparities align with global feminist findings that active online participants tend to be younger and more educated. This unequal representation also has critical implications for gender justice. The predominance of urban, educated voices leads to a narrow framing of gender issues, often excluding the distinct experiences of rural and older women. This chapter argues that while digital platforms have the potential to empower and amplify voices, they also risk perpetuating divides based on age, educational attainment, geographical positioning, and digital accessibility. By perpetuating these exclusions, the digital space risks reinforcing existing inequalities and undermining efforts towards a more inclusive and comprehensive approach to gender justice.