"This article is an outcome of an actionresearch project that gathered community members, farmers, technologists, agroecologists and community network practitioners to make possible a community network in the quilombo of Ribeirão Grande/Terra Seca, located in Barra do Turvo city, São Paulo state,
...
Brazil. The quilombos emerged as refuges for Black people who escaped repression during the entire period of slavery in Brazil, between the 16th and 19th centuries. The inhabitants of these communities are called quilombolas. With the 1988 Constitution, they gained the right to own and use the land they were on, but not without plenty of political struggles. Today Brazil has more than 15,000 quilombola communities. Within quilombo Ribeirão Grande/Terra Seca there is a group of women that takes part in a network called Agroecological Network of Women Farmers (RAMA in Portuguese – Rede Agroecológica de Mulheres Agricultoras), and one of the issues they faced collectively related to difficulties of communication [...] This essay explores positive and negative aspects of our practices in the design and nurturing of the Ribeirão Grande/Terra Seca community network, the use of feminist and popular education methodologies, respect and appreciation of local knowledge, and the importance of considering gender, race and colonialism as oppressions present in the places where community networks operate and are needed. We share these reflections so that they can be useful for other community network activists, advocates and groups when it comes to their technological practices and methodologies. In our search for socially, culturally, ethically engaged and responsible definitions of technology, we come across our own gaps and prejudices: especially how to see and work on racial relations and, crucially, how community network practitioners ignore their own prejudices." (Pages 1-2)
more
"Este manual reúne informações a partir de experiências concretas de redes comunitárias no Brasil e América Latina para responder a perguntas como: o que são redes comunitárias? Que tipos existem? Como planejar, implementar, instalar e gerir uma rede comunitária? Dessa maneira, esta publica
...
ção busca apresentar um conjunto de informações práticas e trazer uma visão geral deste campo, bem como reunir indicações de outros materiais que possam apoiar comunidades interessadas em imaginar, construir e manter redes e soluções de conectividade, tudo isso com muitas ilustrações e com base na educação popular." (Cubierta del libro)
more
"The policy brief we hereby present to the Brazilian National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) includes recommendations and specific proposals to enable community networks in Brazil, considering extensive research in both the global and Brazilian context, the state of the art of these small, not-f
...
or-profit players and the findings and experiences of 32 interviewees all related in some capacity to Brazilian community networks: internet access, spectrum management, the digital divide or research on information and communications technology (ICT) projects. We hereby summarise the priority areas that need to be addressed and the recommendations to reduce barriers and unlock the potential of Brazilian community networks." (Executive summary)
more