This paper by Anita Gurumurthy, IT for Change, Bangalore, bring together a historical overview of the particular developments that led to civil society engagement and feminist advocacy in the WSIS processes. This paper was presented at a seminar entitled, "Gender Perspectives on the Information Society: South Asia Pre-WSIS Seminar 2005" on 18-19 April 2005. The seminar was supported by APDIP and UNIFEM, and organised by IT for Change and partners. Visit the seminar homepage at http://itforchange.net/WSIS/gis/schedule.php