Premium
Financial Vs Social Sustainability of Telecentres: Mutual Exclusion or Mutual Reinforcement?
Author(s) -
Masiero Silvia
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the electronic journal of information systems in developing countries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.41
H-Index - 18
ISSN - 1681-4835
DOI - 10.1002/j.1681-4835.2011.tb00319.x
Subject(s) - sustainability , dimension (graph theory) , social sustainability , business , set (abstract data type) , sociology , economic growth , finance , public relations , political science , economics , computer science , mathematics , ecology , pure mathematics , biology , programming language
The debate on development‐led telecentre projects revolves around the concept of sustainability. Although it is accepted that telecentre sustainability has both a financial and a social dimension, the relationship between these two sides is sometimes axiomatically defined as one of mutual exclusion. Through the case study of the Akshaya Telecentre Project in Kerala, southern India, we problematize this logic: we individuate a set of mechanisms through which the social dimension of telecentre sustainability feeds the financial one, rather than obstructing it. As such, we propose a new paradigm for telecentre studies, in which social and financial sustainability are interlinked by mutual reinforcement.