Fernanda Martins
Anthropologist and Director at InternetLab, Fernanda is a PhD candidate in Social Sciences at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp). She holds a Master’s degree in Social Anthropology and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from the University of São Paulo, as well as a pedagogy degree from the Sumaré University Center. Fernanda has been a recipient of several prestigious scholarships, including a scientific initiation scholarship from the Brazilian Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), a scholarship from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) during her master’s degree, and a CNPq scholarship during her Ph.D. Fernanda has also made meaningful contributions through her consultancy work with Projeto Guri, Plan International, and Unicef. She has a rich background in education, having worked as a professor for children, teenagers, and adults on projects addressing race, ethnicity, and gender inequalities. Applying an intersectional lens, Fernanda authored a biography titled “A filha da Dona Lecy: a trajetória de Leci Brandão,” delving into the life of the second Brazilian Black woman elected as a congressperson in São Paulo state. Fernanda’s research interests are deeply rooted in various critical areas, including ethnic-racial relations, gender violence, feminism, black feminism, sexuality, political violence, hate speech, and internet governance.
Science doesn’t arise from a void. We, as scientists, aren’t blank slates. Whether as evolving subjectivities or as knowledge-generating minds, we imprint our corporeal essence on what we accomplish or uncover. This awareness has been a subject of contemplation in the humanities for decades. In recent years, however, this discourse has seamlessly melded into discussions about general technology, particularly the internet.
As creators and developers of online mechanisms and platforms, we can assert from the outset that these are shaped by the individuals who stand behind their creations.
This understanding leads us to the following inquiries: how do technologies affect individuals differently, considering their diverse social characteristics? Should we regard online occurrences as part of an issue to be confronted by which social actors? What paradoxes emerge when contemplating the voices and engagements that these technologies enable? Do technologies create new modes of inequality? What challenges do we presently confront, and what might we face?
These queries, which for a long time seemed to belong to fiction, are now being staged by reality, immersing us in a fictional present that calls for the exploration of pathways that ensure safe spaces for the whole existence of individuals in all their diversity. Addressing the present and the future compels us to grapple with the urgent need to validate various ways of being and