Infrastructure Manifest (v. 1.0)—Puthiya Purayil Sneha—Chapter 16—“Online Feminist Publishing and Content Creation as Feminist Infrastructure in India”
Infrastructure Type Descriptiona

Control point for access to or useb

For example, identify the owner, regulator, manager, etc. as appropriate

Open Source, Open Access, or Public Resource/Utilityc Proprietaryc How heavily used?d Reliabilityd Satisfaction for Userd Ethical concerns (known or possible) Comments

Land infrastructure

For example, properties ceded, unceded, public, private, etc.

Include only principal land infrastructures.

  • The research for the primary report (on which the book chapter is based), was conducted using office space provided by the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), in Bengaluru, India. These were premises rented by the organisation for use by its staff members. Most interviews were conducted online/over phone, while the workshops were conducted at private institutional spaces.
  • A large part of analysis and writing for the book chapter was completed at a private residential apartment.
The Centre for Internet and Society is a not-for-profit research organisation, and its registered office is rented from a private owner. The land that the office is situated on is within the ambit of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA). One of the workshop venues is a non-profit Institution registered under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, 1960, another is owned and managed by a private entity. The private residential apartment is owned by the author’s family, and situated in an apartment complex owned by a private entity and managed by the residents welfare association. Oversight of the land the building is situated on is by the BDA. Not Applicable Yes 10 9 10 The office was closed during the pandemic-related lockdowns in 2020–2021, and we moved to a remote and later hybrid working model from 2022 onwards.

Materials infrastructure

For example, notable common or rare extracted or other materials used in research, production, and communication.

Break down by notable materials used in devices or tools if appropriate.

  • Materials used in Lenovo Yoga 7 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1165G7: Lithium Polymer battery, OLED screen, aluminium and other metal body parts and hardware.
  • Materials used in Moto G8 Plus phone with Android 10: These include Lithium-Ion battery, glass, metal and plastic body parts, and hardware.
  • Materials used for writing such as notepads, paper, pencils and pens: These include resources such as wood, metal, plastic and ink.
  • Materials used for workstation: These include a wooden table with drawers, paint, varnish, metal handles and fixtures. An office chair with metal alloy body parts, fabric and foam cushions.
The laptop is issued by the office, but immediate point of control/access is with the author. The personal phone belongs to the author. Not Applicable Yes 10 8 9
  • The use of lithium/lithium ion batteries has been classified as hazardous in many countries, and is subject to several regulations under various jurisdictions.
  • The use of paper, wood, paint, metal and plastic for infrastructural resources also raises significant environmental concerns, not only about how the materials are sourced and harnessed, but also their breakdown and disposal in a way that needs to be environmentally conscious.
  • There is also a need for more awareness about detrimental health effects due to the use of digital infrastructures, including but not limited to heat and blue light emissions, high Specific Absorbtion Rate (SAR) of devices with prolonged wireless use, and effective strategies to mtitigate the same.

Energy infrastructure

For example, principal energy sources and infrastructure used in research, production, and communication

  • Electricity used to power equipment such as laptop and phone, and other infrastructure such as room lights, study table lights and ceiling fans.
  • Fuel consumption by public and personal transport.
  • Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Ltd (BESCOM)
  • Privately owned cabs and autos, and ride hailing companies
  • Private and public fuel companies such as
    • Shell
    • Reliance
    • Indian Oil Corporation
    • Hindustan Petroleum Corporation
    • Bharat Petroleum Corporation
Yes Yes 10 9 10 Fuel and electricity consumption has long term effects on the environment, climate and health. Where possible I try to mitigate this by using public transport and wearing masks for my own protection against pollution.

Transportation infrastructure

For example, private or public transportation needed for daily or research trips

Commute to the office, workshops and meetings via public transport (cabs and autorickshaw) and personal car.
  • Cabs and rickshaws are privately owned by ride-hailing companies or the drivers themselves.
  • The personal car is owned by the author.
Yes Yes 10 8 8 There are environmental concerns related to air pollution and noise pollution due to growth in private vehicles on the roads in Bengaluru city, and limited use of electric vehicles as private/public transport, https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/bengaluru-news/air-pollution-caused-12-000-deaths-rs-12-000-crore-loss-in-bengaluru-report-101613712811275.html.

Architectural infrastructure

For example, buildings, labs, rooms

This includes a study at the author’s residence, and meeting rooms and workstations at the CIS office. The study is part of the author’s family owned residential apartment, and the meeting rooms and workstations belong to the Centre for Internet and Society. Not Applicable Yes 9 9 9

Civic, community, national, or regional infrastructure

For example, provided by cities, communities, governments, etc.

Roads, energy and labour as community infrastructure used during commute to office and meetings. The Government of Karnataka, and its administrative body, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, which is reponsible for maintenance of civic amenities and public infrastructural assets. Yes Not Applicable 9 7 8

Institutional infrastructure

For example, equipment, services, and “overhead” or “indirect cost recovery” items for grants to universities

Institutional workstation, wifi network, printer, stationery, power supply, utilities, and pantry that were availed of during time spent at the office working on this book chapter. Centre for Internet and Society Not Applicable Yes 8 8 8

Labor infrastructure

For example, type and amount of labor from collaborators, staff, research assistants; include any attributes that seem important, such as unrecognized, unpaid, low-paid, outsourced, or other attributes of labor

In addition to the intellectual, research, and design labour of the co-author in this chapter, the writing has benefitted greatly from the support of an intern in the early stages of the research, and review and feedback shared by the peers/authors and editors of this volume. Work on this chapter has also been facilitated by the labour undertaken by staff members at the CIS office, especially support and administrative staff managing the office and utilities. A large part of the author’s professional work is also made possible by the unpaid and often invisible domestic labour and care work undertaken by her family at home. Not Applicable Not Applicable 10 10 10 Ethical concerns here are largely around unequal division of labour often seen in traditional households, with domestic chores and carework often becoming unpaid, invisible and feminised labour. The author however has made efforts to address this by working on division of domestic and care work in various capacities.

Research-content infrastructure

For example, physical libraries and archives, online research materials, shadow libraries, etc.

This included academic databases, search engines and aggegators of multidisciplinary and primarily open access content. These include platforms like

  • Google
  • Google Scholar
  • Internet Archive Scholar
  • Social Science Research Network (SSRN) etc.

Content behind paywalls was accessed through shadow libraries.

Points of control include

  • publishing houses
  • academic presses
  • and academic content aggregators.
Yes Yes 10 9 9

Tools infrastructure

For example, principal analog tools and digital tools, scripts, or protocols used for research, writing, communication, production (excluding high-performance computing, for which see below)

Analog Tools
  • Pen
  • pencil
  • notepad/notebooks
  • sticky notes
  • whiteboard
  • markers
    • Use level: 7
    • Reliability: 10
    • Satisfaction: 10
Digital Tools
  • Laptop
  • Personal mobile phone
    • Use level: 10
    • Reliability: 10
    • Satisfaction: 10
Operating System
  • Microsoft Windows 11 (Laptop)
  • Android 10 (phone)
    • Use level: 10
    • Reliability: 9
    • Satisfaction: 10
Software tools
  • Microsoft Office including Word, Powerpoint, and Excel
  • Google Docs and Sheets
    • Use level: 10
    • Reliability: 9
    • Satisfaction: 9
Email Client
  • Zimbra
  • Mozilla Thunderbird
  • Gmail
    • Use level: 10
    • Reliability: 9
    • Satisfaction: 9
Messaging Applications
  • Whatsapp
    • Use level: 9
    • Reliability: 9
    • Satisfaction: 9
Reference Management Tools
  • Zotero
    • Use level: 8
    • Reliability: 8
    • Satisfaction: 9
Not Applicable Yes

Networked Platforms infrastructure

For example, major networked or cloud platforms used for research, storage, analysis, sharing, communication, publication—Google Drive, Dropbox, AWS, etc. (excluding high-performance computing, for which see below)

Storage
  • Personal and Institutional Google Drive
    • Use level: 8
    • Reliability: 8
    • Satisfaction: 9
Analysis
  • Google Suite (Docs, Slides and Sheets)
    • Use level: 9
    • Reliability: 9
    • Satisfaction: 9
Sharing and Communication
  • Institutional email (using clients mentioned above)
  • Messaging applications like Whatsapp
    • Use level: 9
    • Reliability: 9
    • Satisfaction: 9
Not Applicable Yes

High-performance computing infrastructure

Here defined expansively to include the use not just of supercomputers and computer clusters or grids but any high-performance computing infrastructure or special GPU and other processors exceeding the capabilities of an individual workstation, laptop, or server.

Not Applicable Not Applicable
Other infrastructure Not Applicable Not Applicable

This infrastructure manifest was completed by Puthiya Purayil Sneha and reports on Chapter 16, “Online Feminist Publishing and Content Creation as Feminist Infrastructure in India.”