How can digital inclusion promote social change? Exploring two Brazilian case studies

This paper presents the results of a comparative analysis of two digital inclusion programs, one from a civil society organization called CDI and another from a government programme called Jovem.com, in Campinas, Brazil. While both organisations provided free Internet access and basic ICT skills courses, CDI used a methodology based on critical pedagogy and Jovem.com used an orthodox didactic approach. Findings show that students from both organisations gained technical skills and reported gains in self-confidence, which they were able to use to address their immediate practical needs. However, only CDI students gained critical abilities, such as self-reflection and critical thinking, which they were able to use to address more strategic interests. This research draws upon Amartya Sen's capability approach and Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy. Fieldwork used participatory methodology and mixed-qualitative methods such as interviews, questionnaires, participant observation and fieldnotes. This paper concludes that digital inclusion organisations should focus, first, on strengthening the students' critical abilities to understand the root causes of their disadvantage. Second, organisations should focus on supporting students to find ways to use ICT to tackle that disadvantage.