Theorizing Digital Divides

Description

Although discussion of the digital divide is a relatively new phenomenon, social inequality is a deeply entrenched part of our current social world and is now reproduced in the digital sphere. Such inequalities have been described in multiple traditions of social thought and theoretical approaches. To move forward to a greater understanding of the nuanced dynamics of digital inequality, we need the theoretical lenses to interpret the meaning of what has been observed as digital inequality. This volume examines and explains the phenomenon of digital divides and digital inequalities from a theoretical perspective. Indeed, with there being a limited amount of theoretical research on the digital divide so far, Theorizing Digital Divides seeks to collect and analyse different perspectives and theoretical approaches in analysing digital inequalities, and thus propose a nuanced approach to study the digital divide. Exploring theories from diverse perspectives within the social sciences whilst presenting clear examples of how each theory is applied in digital divide research, this book will appeal to scholars and undergraduate and postgraduate students interested in sociology of inequality, digital culture, Internet studies, mass communication, social theory, sociology, and media studies. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Introduction Organization of the book References Section 1 Using classical social theories to understand digital divide Chapter 1 The sociology of Simmel and digital divides: Information, value, exchange, and sociation in the networked environment Introduction The sociology of information Simmel on secrecy and money Information as an object of value Conclusion References Chapter 2 Social capital and the three levels of digital divide Introduction Social capital: a multidimensional and controversial concept Social capital and the three levels of digital divide Interrelationships between digital and social capital Concluding remarks References Chapter 3 Do data analysts fill the role of the psychoanalyst?: The contemporary digital divide and Freud’s theory Introduction Methodology Attitudes towards data Two presuppositions of big data analysis Patients’ resistance and their mental illness Two presuppositions of psychoanalysis and the difference between the two analyses The problems of the end of psychoanalysis Conclusions and future directions Acknowledgements Note References Chapter 4 The interpretive and ideal-type approach: Rethinking digital non-use(s) in a Weberian perspective Dividers in digital divide studies? Weber’s interpretive framework and the ideal type Putting Weber to the test: Internet non-use, use, and the in-between Conclusion References Section 2 Associative and communicative perspectives Chapter 5 Disability and digital inequalities: Rethinking digital divides with disability theory Introduction Disability in digital divide and inequality theories Uses of disability theory for rethinking digital inequality Conclusion References Chapter 6 “The language metaphor”: An epistemological approach to the digital divide Introduction Language, ICT and different forms of capital Digitality divides Digitality as a hegemonic language Digital registers Digitality acquisition and learning The “Creolisation” hypothesis Conclusion Acknowledgements References Chapter 7 Theorizing digital divides through the lens of the social construction of technology and social shaping of technology Introduction The theory of the social construction of technology (SCOT) The theory of the social shaping of technology (SST) The perpetual conundrums in the US The race and ethnicity divide The urban-rural divide The disability divide Explicating the conundrum through the social construction of technology and social shaping of technology theories Implications of the SCOT and SST theories for understanding digital divides and directions for future research Conclusion References Chapter 8 Critical infrastructures, critical geographies: Towards a spatial theory of the digital divide Introduction Geography, the Internet and the digital divide A Marxist-postcolonial analysis of the uneven geographic development of Internet infrastructures Fixed and digital Internet infrastructures Fixed infrastructure Digital infrastructure Summarizing a spatial theory of the digital divide References Chapter 9 A “recognitional perspective” on the twenty-first century’s digital divide Introduction A framework for the twenty-first century digital divide Recognition in social sciences Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition Interpreting the digital divide from a perspective of recognition Limitations and conclusion Note References Section 3 Critical and alternative perspectives Chapter 10 Rethinking the information society: A decolonial and border gnosis of the digital divide in Africa and the Global South Introduction Beyond political economy of the divide The decolonial and border theory On language, culture, and the divide Border, hybridity, and the divide Conclusion: toward a pluriversal Internet References Chapter 11 Digital divide in Turkey as a non-western country Introduction The conceptual framework of Şerif Mardin İHL Sözlük vs Ekşi Sözlük Civil and political participation in Turkey and on the Internet Conclusion References Chapter 12 This question of the Other presence: Theorizing online representation and the voice of the digital subaltern Introduction Background Discussion Conclusion Note References Chapter 13 The digital divide and classifications: The inscription of citizens into the state Introduction Digital divide(s) and citizenship Civil registration in Denmark: an illustrative study Discussion Conclusion References Chapter 14 Gendered cyberhate: A new digital divide? Introduction Digital divisions Gendered cyberhate Impact on targets Coercion Conclusion Notes References Afterword: The state of digital divide theory Introduction The nature of digital divide theory A classification of digital divide theories Contemporary digital divide theory at third levels of access The way forward References Index