Passionate Producers: Corporate Interventions in Expanding the Promise of the Information Society
Sreela Sarkar · Communication Culture and Critique · 2016
Based on ethnographic research in New Delhi, this article explores the culture of corporate intervention in India through a focus on the “social sector” work of new middle-class IT professionals. It focuses on the well-recognized Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD) initiatives of the transnational IT education and training firm International Training Institute. The article argues that corporate professionals are “passionate producers” who create a contradictory work ethos that incorporates both neoliberal principles and development initiatives. These professionals train workers to absorb appropriate “values” and to acquire “skills” that ultimately prevent these workers from realizing their aspirations. The ICTD project reinforces divisions of class, caste, and gender in India's globally acclaimed information society.