Digitalisation has changed the very way we live, work and think. Today we live in a world where the ‘virtual’ has drastically and rapidly overtaken the ‘real’ and governmental controls. It has weakened territorial, racial, religious and other identities.
We are living in a world where global forces are simultaneously binding and tearing us apart. Earlier people connected with others at the familial, work and community levels, but with the advent of globalisation and technological innovations, we find cyberspace replacing the places of conviviality with ‘virtual’ communities.
The article seeks to explore the emerging trends in digitalisation of democracy in the wake of paradigm shift from representative to participatory democracy in general and explore the prospects of women’s political participation in India. India happens to be the second most populous country, biggest democracy and largest market for social networking. It also seeks to explore the reasons for low access to political space by women in India despite being one of the five telecom giants worldwide and argues how women can use the in-between space provided by digital technologies for deconstructing prevailing authoritarianism in a patriarchal society and consumerism rampant in their cultural environment. The methodology adopted is analytical, comparative and empirical.
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