Alotaibi, N.H., Dasuki, S. and Zamani, E.D. (2025) M-government and Saudi women’s empowerment: a capability approach perspective. Information Technology for Development. ISSN: 0268-1102
Abstract
This study examines how m-government contributes toward women's empowerment and the legal requirement for male guardians' permission has been lifted. Interview data from 30 women analysed using Sen's Capability Approach suggest that independent use of m-government empowers women by allowing them to obtain a driving licence, and passport for themselves and their children. This enables them to work, study, travel and make decisions about their children's health and education. Nevertheless, personal, social, and environmental factors that hinder the use of m-government services for empowerment remain; notably, traditional religious and cultural values, resistance by male guardians, as well as technical issues, internet connectivity and lack of digital literacy skills. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that addresses how Saudi women make use of the opportunities created for them by the m-government and the barriers that impede their access to these opportunities and makes significant theoretical and practical contributions.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. |
Keywords: | Capability approach; m-government; empowerment; women; Saudi Arabia |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Information School (Sheffield) |
Date Deposited: | 03 Oct 2025 11:19 |
Last Modified: | 03 Oct 2025 11:19 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | Taylor and Francis Group |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/02681102.2024.2439285 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:232382 |
Download
Filename: M-government and Saudi women s empowerment a capability approach perspective.pdf
Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0