This paper draws upon critical theories and the capability approach.
It argues for a conceptualization of development as a process
designed to enable people to free themselves from structural
disadvantage. Amartya Sen has argued that people’s “criticalagency”
to question and reject unjust social norms is “pivotal” to
human development and important for tackling inequalities of
any kind. Freire’s critical pedagogy, and critical feminism, go
further by providing disadvantaged people with the practical
means to do this; to identify the structural root causes of unjust
social norms and the critical-agency to challenge and change
them. Two empirical case studies of ICT4D are presented, from
Zambia and Brazil, which draw upon these critical approaches but
use them in different ways. The paper argues that ICT4D must go
beyond addressing people’s immediate practical needs for access
to ICT tools and skills, to also address their strategic interest in
identifying and tackling the root causes of disadvantage.