Information Infrastructural Violence: A Critical, Intersectional Study of Gender Recategorization in Government Information Infrastructure

Katherine Wyers, Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo

Whether in delays to healthcare provision, or suspicion at border crossings, identity categories shape our lives and can have an adverse effect on those who are deemed to fall outside or transgress the identity categories. Despite their significance, there is relatively little known within the information systems discipline about the consequences of identity recategorization. This is particularly concerning at present, because the contestations surrounding categories of race, gender, nationality, and other identity categories play such a central role in many of the debates in public and private sector organizations, where the consequences of these categories and their recategorization can adversely shape many aspects of a person’s daily life.

From a technical perspective, information infrastructures (IIs) are composed of various classification systems, protocols, and technical specifications that codify the rules and procedures for interaction between a system’s elements (Turner et al., 2006, p. 94). However, IIs are fundamentally a relational concept (Star & Ruhleder, 1996). They are ‘engines of ontological change … standing between people, technology, and nature, and in doing so reinforce each simultaneously’ (Karasti et al., 2018, p. 271). As the requirements for the classifications change, these information infrastructures need to be changed so they remain aligned. Without this process of change, the systems relying on the infrastructure would seize up and no longer function as needed, becoming stiff and unworkable (Jackson, 2014, p. 223).

Identity categories are not merely neutral, objective representations of reality. They are often sites of political and social struggles (Bowker & Star, 1999). When the evolution of an information infrastructure involves the integration of changes to an identity category, this can firmly entrench the political struggle into the working infrastructure, with moral and ethical implications. Identity categories have material effects on the lives of the people they target (Beaudevin & Schramm, 2019). When they are created or changed by the State, identity claims by individuals or groups may be subverted, or individuals may feel that their powers of, or rights to, self-definition are impinged upon (Yanow, 2003). For individuals who are disadvantaged by changes to an identity category, the infrastructure can have a detrimental impact on their lives (Bowker & Star, 1999).

This study seeks to understand the consequences of making changes to an identity category in a government information infrastructure. It explores the case of India’s gender category, which in 2014 was expanded from legally recognizing two genders, {male, female}, to recognizing three genders, {male, female, transgender}. This change was introduced by the Indian Supreme Court to legally recognize India’s transgender community. The expansion of the recognized gender category came with concomitant changes to the II. 

Grounded in post-structuralism and critical interpretivism, this study draws on three months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the rural north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, and the urban center of Delhi. The data comprised of 28 semi-structured interviews with transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people, bureaucrats, and members of civil society, together with a focus group discussion, and document analysis from the period 2014 to 2024. The findings were triangulated with fieldnotes from the three months of fieldwork.

The study presents five research papers. Paper 1 explores methodologies used when studying the relationship between TGD people and information systems. It positions itself as a paper that encourages critical feminist methodologies and deep engagement with the research context. Paper 2 explores the consequences of identity recategorization with regards to cross-disciplinary collaboration during periods of information infrastructure evolution, finding conflict and resistance to the loose definition of identity categories. Paper 3 shows how information systems use has been shaped at the street level of policy implementation, showing the emergence of identity stereotyping when a recategorization takes place. Paper 4 illustrates how the lived experiences of TGD people have been shaped by the recategorization of their identities within the government information infrastructure, and shows how they navigate their identities during the period of evolution. Paper 5 explores the ontological foundations of identity representation in organizational data and argues for a rethinking of the enumerative approach that is typically used to represent identities in data. This thesis then discusses these findings with regards to burden, power differentials, and slow change. From this, the thesis proposes an extension to information infrastructure theory to consider intersectionality together with structural and slow violence. It presents the collateral burden construct to represent the burden placed on the shoulders of the individuals during information infrastructural change.

This study makes several theoretical, methodological, and practical contributions. It makes theoretical contributions by presenting an empirically grounded analysis of the gradual changes to an II, engaging critically with the consequences of the process. Furthermore, it shows the high level of hidden work that takes place when an identity category is changed in an II. The study explores the potential risk that the installed base can harbor systemic bias, discussing how nations with a post-colonial history, or a history of racism, sexism, or ableism can have an installed base that can harbor systemic bias in need of interrogation. The study makes practical contributions by showing the potential negative consequences of a change to an identity category and highlights key areas where plans can be made to mitigate these consequences during the process of identity category change. The study contributes to the communities of the participants by amplifying the voices of India’s transgender and gender diverse people from a wide range of gender identities and expressions. It also highlights the crucial work performed by advocacy groups and civil society members during the change process.