Radhika Gajjala (left) works alongside a handloom weaver in Waingapo, Sumba, this summer.
Gajjala book, research look at means, outcomes of online philanthropy
Stories sell products. And in this age of artisanal, craft and cottage industry goods, stories are all-important in connecting seller to buyer. This reaches another level when those products come from areas of the world where the story is also one of helping someone out of poverty — and that connection is often made through digital media, says Dr. Radhika Gajjala, a Bowling Green State University professor in the School of Media and Communication.
In a new book and during research and teaching travels to Indonesia and India this summer, Gajjala continues her explorations into the crossroads of digital culture and the world of craft. As with her other books, she collaborated with colleagues and her former doctoral students on the research and the co-production of knowledge, and, in some cases, the writing.
Her latest book, “Online Philanthropy in the Global North and South: Connecting, Microfinancing, and Gaming for Change,” published by Lexington Books, examines aspects of online philanthropy. As she says in the introduction, an overarching question the book investigates is “What happens when Web 2.0 platforms and tools are used to connect people who want to give to the poor of the world? What sorts of formats and strategies are used? What rhetorics of inclusion and exclusion emerge?”
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