Feminist nonprofit organizations are sites of informal and nonformal learning where citizens learn advocacy, literacy, and the practices of social democracy. With the growing use of information and communication technologies in the nonprofit sector, there are questions as to how well organizations are able to make use of this technology to further their goals of promoting social movement learning and activism. This article reports on a systematic analysis of 100 websites for feminist organizations in Canada. Websites are evaluated for content, currency, and maintenance to determine how well these sites contribute to the work of these organizations. Implications are drawn for learning and teaching in the community-based sphere.
Buskens, I., & Webb, A. (Eds.). (2009). African women and ICTs: Investigating technology, gender and empowerment. London , England: Zed Books.
2.
Butterwick, S., & Liptrot, J. ( 2003). Missing in action: Women’s alternate and informal IT learning. Paper presented at the proceedings of the Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning International Conference, Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland.
3.
Carrasco, L., Hopenhaym, F., & Clark, C. ( 2008). Where is the money for women’s rights work on ICTs? Retrieved from http://www.awid.org
4.
Cooks, L., & Isgro, K. ( 2005). The "cyber summit" and women: Incorporating gender into information and communication technology UN policies. Frontiers , 26(1), 71-89.
5.
Crowther, J., Hemmi, A., & Martin, I. ( 2008, July). Learning through ICTs in the environmental justice movement: Case studies from Scotland. Paper presented at the 38th Annual SCUTREA Conference, University of Edinburgh , Scotland.
6.
Cukier, W., & Middleton, C.A. (2003). Evaluating the web presence of voluntary sector organizations: An assessment ofCanadian web sites. IT & Society, 1(3), 102-130.
7.
English, L.M. ( 2005). Foucault, feminists and funders: A study of power and policy in feminist organizations. Studies in the Education of Adults, 37, 137-150.
8.
Faulkner, W., & Lie, M. ( 2007). Gender in the information society: Strategies of inclusion . Gender, Technology and Development, 11, 157-177.
9.
Fenton, N. ( 2008). Mediating solidarity. Global Media and Communication, 4(1), 37-57.
10.
Ferree, M.M., & Martin, P.Y. ( 1995). Doing the work of the movement: Feminist organizations . In M. M. Ferree & P. Y. Martin (Eds.), Feminist Organizations: Harvest of the new women’s movement (pp. 3-23). Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
11.
Foster, M.K., & Meinhard, A.G. (2004, July). Women’s voluntary organizations: Bridgers, bonders or both. Paper presented at the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) Sixth International Conference, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada.
12.
Foster, M.K., Meinhard, A.G., & Berger, I. ( 2003). The role of social capital: Bridging, bonding or both? (Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies Working Paper No. 22). Toronto, Ontario , Canada: Ryerson University.
13.
Gorman, S. ( 2008). Bursting the bubble: Internet feminism and the end of activism. Feminist Media Studies, 8, 220-223.
14.
Hafkin, N. J., & Huyer, S. (Eds.). (2006). Cinderella or cyberella? Empowering women in the knowledge society. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press.
15.
Hall, B., & Clover, D. ( 2005). Social movement learning. In L. M. English (Ed.), International encyclopedia of adult education (pp. 584-589). New York, NY: Palgrave.
16.
Huyer, S. ( 2006). Understanding gender equality and women’s empowerment in the knowledge society. In N. J. Hafkin & S. Huyer (Eds.), Cinderella or cyberella? Empowering women in the knowledge society (pp. 15-47). Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press.
17.
Kenix, L.J. ( 2008). Nonprofit organizations’ perceptions and uses of the Internet. Television and New Media, 9, 407-428.
18.
Kop, R. ( 2008, June). Web 2.0 technologies: Disruptive or liberating for adult education?Paper presented at the proceedings of the 49th Annual Adult Education Research Conference, University of Missouri, St. Louis.
19.
Loader, B., & Keeble, L. ( 2004). Challenging the digital divide: A literature review of community informatics initiatives. York, England: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
20.
Mehra, B., Merkel, C., & Bishop, A. ( 2004). The Internet for empowerment of minority and marginalized users. New Media and Society, 6, 781-802.
21.
Middleton, C.A., & Sorensen, C. ( 2005). How connected are Canadians? Inequities in Canadian households’ Internet access. Canadian Journal of Communication, 30, 463-483.
22.
Postill, J. ( 2008). Localizing the Internet beyond communities and networks . New Media and Society, 10, 413-431.
23.
Rahimi, B., & Gheytanchi, E. (2008). Iran’s reformists and activists: Internet exploiters. Middle East Policy, 15(1), 46-59.
24.
Rothschild-Whitt, J. ( 1979). The collectivist organization: An alternative to rational bureaucratic models. American Sociological Review, 44, 509-527.
25.
Royal, C. ( 2008). Framing the Internet: A comparison of gendered spaces . Social Science Computer Review, 26, 152-169.
26.
Scott, A., & Page, M. ( 2001). Change agency and women’s learning: New practices in community informatics. In L. Keeble & B. D. Loader (Eds.), Community informatics: Shaping computer mediated relations (pp. 147-174). London: Routledge.
27.
Selwyn, N., Gorard, G., & Furlong, J. ( 2006). Adult learning in the digital age: Information technology and the learning society. London, England: Routledge.
28.
Shade, L.R. ( 1996). Report on the use of the Internet in Canadian women’s organizations. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Status of Women Canada, Government of Canada.
29.
Shade, L.R. ( 2004). Bending gender into the Net: Feminizing content, corporate interests, and research strategy. In P. N. Howard & S. Jones (Eds.), Society online. The Internet in context (pp. 57-70). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
30.
Smith, M.M. ( 2007). Nonprofit religious organization web sites: Underutilized avenue of communicating with group members. Journal of Media and Religion, 6, 273-290.
31.
Taylor, E.W.T. ( 2006). Making meaning of local nonformal education: Practitioner’s perspective. Adult Education Quarterly, 56, 291-307.
32.
Te’eni, D., & Young, D.R. ( 2003). The changing role of nonprofits in the network economy . Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 32, 397-414.
33.
Van Dijk, J.A.G.M. ( 2005). The deepening divide: Inequality in the information society . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
34.
Vogt, C., & Chen, P. ( 2004). The Internet and the global women’s movement: Using information to bridge the North/South divide. Gender, Technology and Development, 8, 153-158.
35.
Walter, P. ( 2007). Adult learning in new social movements: Environmental protest and the struggle for the Clayoquot sound rainforest. Adult Education Quarterly, 57, 248-263.
