Stefanie Felsberger

Stefanie Felsberger

ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership/Cambridge Trust Scholarship

Global Data Flows and Menstruation

Abstract:

Tech companies have amassed great capital through the commodification of data generated by people in their daily lives: this data is either sold or used to gain behavioural insights. In my research, I focus on this intersection of data as a source of value and knowledge, which underpins most business models in the digital economy. I look at women using fertility tracking applications which gather some of the most sensitive and sought-after information. I research how women in Egypt and Austria navigate the commodification of their personal data to question conceptions of gender and labour in discussions on surveillance capitalism, data ownership and commodification. I hope to (re)think the power relationship between data producers and technology owners and to find ways how woman can regain some say over what happens to their data.

Academic Background:

Magister in Political Science, University of Vienna (Distinction)

Magister in Arabic Studies, University of Vienna (Distinction)

(Senior) Researcher at the Access to Knowledge for Development Center, American University in Cairo

Research Interests:

I am interested in researching state surveillance, data and global markets, gender, labour, datafication, knowledge production, social reproduction, access to knowledge, and coloniality.

Publications:

(Forthcoming)Subramanian, Ramesh and Stefanie Felsberger, eds. 2019. Access to Knowledge and Mobile Technologies. London: Routledge.  

Rizk, Nagla, Stefanie Felsberger, and Nancy Salem. 2019. “Narratives around Women, Work, and Technology.” In Taking stock: Data and Evidence on Gender Equality in Digital Access, Skills and Leadership. EQUALS Global Partnership and United Nations University. 

https://www.itu.int/en/action/gender-equality/Documents/EQUALS%20Research%20Report%202019.pdf.

Felsberger, Stefanie and Yara Sultan. 2019. "Speculative Data Futures Introduction: Current Realities & Future Imaginations." knowledgemaze (blog), July 8, 2019. knowledgemaze.wordpress.com/2019/07/08/speculative-data-futures/. 

Rizk, Nagla, Nancy Salem, and Stefanie Felsberger. 2019. “State of Open Data in the MENA Region.” The State of Open Data. OD4D.

Felsberger, Stefanie. 2019. “The Internet's Early History in Egypt:

A Conversation with Baher Esmat, Part I.” knowledgemaze (blog), May 23, 2019.

https://knowledgemaze.wordpress.com/2019/05/23/the-internets-early-history-in-egypt-a-conversation-with-baher-esmat/. 

Rizk, Nagla, Stefanie Felsberger, Nancy Salem, Eman Shehata, and Dalia Rafik. 2016. Data for Development in the MENA Region: A Narrative on Paradigms, Production, Access, and Usability. Cairo: Access to Knowledge for Development Center. 

Felsberger, Stefanie. 2015. "nolege is power: Rancière’s lesson in inequality." knowledgemaze (blog), February 10, 2015. knowledgemaze.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/nolege-is-power-rancieres-lesson-in-inequality/.