This is from an earlier discussion (much earlier), and relates to sustainable transportation. The claim was that in India, women are being groped when they are walking alone, and no one questions it. The argument is to produce hybrid motorcycles so that women have more independence and freedom, and are not subject to this groping. The problem was that their saris were catching fire. The pro side was that the hybrid technology was sustainable.
I would say it is silly to justify technology for these reasons. You have to separate the components. (Sorry, divisions would work better in fixing this scenario, I think). Ok, so we have the problem of women being groped in public. Using transportation seems like you are fleeing from the problem. Does this solve the problem? In part, yes, because there is less opportunity for groping. We could have targeted the problem, and used a simple bottle of pepper spray to warn others not to touch us, and it would be less environmentally damaging than constructing a hybrid motorcycle (I think, although I’m not sure). Second, why motorcycles? Wouldn’t a bicycle work well too? And bicycles are more sustainable than motorcycles. And you don’t have to worry about saris catching fire on a bicycle.
I totally agree Hannah that we have to take a strucutralist approach to the situation in India, just as we must to all such situations of human rights abuses, sexism, prejudice, etc. There are root societal causes for women being groped and those causes can and should be addressed through education, legislation, and other policies. That being said, the issue of how technology can help in interim and whether or not the benefits outway the environmental cost remains a puzzling one.