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The Digital Divide: the Internet and Social Inequality in International Perspective

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The Digital Divide: the Internet and Social Inequality in International Perspective http://www.diva-portal.org This is the published version of a chapter published in The Digital Divide: The Internet and Social Inequality in International Perspective. Citation for the original published chapter: Meinrath, S., Losey, J., Lennett, B. (2013) Afterword. Internet Freedom, Nuanced Digital Divide, and the Internet Craftsman. In: Massimo Ragnedda and Glenn W. Muschert (ed.), The Digital Divide: The Internet and Social Inequality in International Perspective (pp. 309-316). London: Routledge Routledge advances in sociology N.B. When citing this work, cite the original published chapter. Permanent link to this version: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-100423 The Digital Divide This book provides an in-depth comparative analysis of inequality and the stratification of the digital sphere. Grounded in classical sociological theories of inequality, as well as empirical evidence, this book defines “the digital divide” as the unequal access and utility of internet communications technologies and explores how it has the potential to replicate existing social inequalities, as well as create new forms of stratification. The Digital Divide examines how various demographic and socio-economic factors including income, education, age and gender, as well as infrastructure, products and services affect how the internet is used and accessed. Comprised of six parts, the first section examines theories of the digital divide, and then looks in turn at: • Highly developed nations and regions (including the USA, the EU and Japan); • Emerging large powers (Brazil, Russia, India, China); • Eastern European countries (Estonia, Romania, Serbia); • Arab and Middle Eastern nations (Egypt, Iran, Israel); • Under-studied areas (East and Central Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa). Providing an interwoven analysis of the international inequalities in internet usage and access, this important work offers a comprehensive approach to studying the digital divide around the globe. It is an important resource for academics and students in sociology, social policy, communication studies, media studies and all those interested in the questions and issues around social inequality. Massimo Ragnedda teaches Mass Communications at Northumbria University, UK. Previously he was an affiliated visitor at the Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge, UK and in 2011 he was Academic Visiting at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, UK. Glenn W. Muschert is Associate Professor in the Sociology, Criminology, and Social Justice Studies Programs at Miami University, USA. The Digital Divide_BOOK.indb 1 5/8/2013 2:33:01 PM The Digital Divide_BOOK.indb 2 5/8/2013 2:33:01 PM The Digital Divide The internet and social inequality in international perspective Edited by Massimo Ragnedda and Glenn W. Muschert The Digital Divide_BOOK.indb 3 5/8/2013 2:33:01 PM First published 2013 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2013 selection and editorial material, Massimo Ragnedda and Glenn W. Muschert; individual chapters, the contributors The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data The digital divide : the Internet and social inequality in international perspective / edited by Massimo Ragnedda and Glenn W. Muschert. pages cm. -- (Routledge advances in sociology ; 73) 1. Digital divide. 2. Information society. 3. Equality. I. Ragnedda, Massimo, 1976- II. Muschert, Glenn W. HM851.D52444 2013 302.23'1--dc23 2012046956 ISBN: 978-0-415-52544-2 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-06976-9 (ebk) Typeset in Baskerville by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby The Digital Divide_BOOK.indb 4 5/8/2013 2:33:01 PM Contents Author biographies viii Preface xviii Introduction 1 Massimo Ragnedda and Glenn W. Muschert SectION 1 Theories of the digital divide 15 1 The reproduction and reconfiguration of inequality: Differentiation and class, status and power in the dynamics of digital divides 17 Bridgette Wessels 2 A theory of the digital divide 29 Jan A.G.M. van Dijk SectION 2 Highly developed nations and regions 53 3 The digital divide in Europe 55 Nicole Zillien and Mirko Marr 4 The Internet and social inequalities in the U.S. 67 James Witte, Marissa Kiss and Randy Lynn 5 Missing in the midst of abundance: The case of broadband adoption in Japan 85 Mito Akiyoshi, Motohiro Tsuchiya and Takako Sano The Digital Divide_BOOK.indb 5 5/8/2013 2:33:01 PM vi Contents SectION 3 Rapidly developing large nations – the BRIC nations 105 6 The digital divide in Brazil: Conceptual, research and policy challenges 107 Bernardo Sorj 7 Digitalizing Russia: The uneven pace of progress toward ICT equality 118 Inna F. Deviatko 8 The digital divide in India: Inferences from the information and communication technology workforce 134 P. Vigneswara Ilavarasan 9 The digital divide in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan: The barriers of first order and second order digital divide 147 Shu-Fen Tseng and YU-Ching You SectION 4 Eastern Europe 163 10 The Internet and digital divide in South Eastern Europe: Connectivity does not end the digital divide, skills do 165 Danica Radovanović 11 Closing the gap, are we there yet?: Reflections on the persistence of second-level digital divide among adolescents in Central and Eastern Europe 177 Monica Barbovschi and Bianca BaleA 12 Behind the slogan of “e-State”: Digital stratification in Estonia 191 Veronika Kalmus, Kairi Talves and Pille Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt The Digital Divide_BOOK.indb 6 5/8/2013 2:33:01 PM Contents vii SectION 5 The Middle East region 205 13 Digitally divided we stand: The contribution of digital media to the Arab Spring 207 David M. Faris 14 Explaining digital inequalities in Israel: Juxtaposing the conflict and cultural perspectives 220 Gustavo Mesch, Ilan Talmud and Tanya Kolobov 15 An analysis of the second-level digital divide in Iran: A case study of University of Tehran undergraduate students 235 Hamid Abdollahyan, Mehdi Semati and Mohammad Ahmadi SectION 6 Under-studied countries and regions 249 16 The digital divide in the Latin American context 251 Daniela Trucco 17 The Central Asian digital divide 268 Barney Warf 18 The double digital divide and social inequality in Asia: Comparative research on Internet cafes in Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines 283 Tomohisa Hirata 19 Dimensions of the mobile divide in Niger 295 Gado Alzouma Afterword: Internet freedom, nuanced digital divides, and the Internet craftsman 307 Sascha D. Meinrath, James Losey and Benjamin Lennett Index 314 The Digital Divide_BOOK.indb 7 5/8/2013 2:33:01 PM Author biographies Hamid Abdollahyan is an Associate Professor of Communication at the Department of Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Iran. His research interests include new media and cultural differences, media and the public sphere, cultural studies and the generation gap, consumer culture and the automobile industry, research methods in communications studies, comparative dimensions of sociology, communication and history, historical sociology, social networking, human-computer interaction, the Internet world and its problematic for science. His writing includes the books Conceptualization of reality in historical sociology: Narrating absentee-landlordism in Iran (2004) and Comparative Perspectives in Sociology, Anthropology and Communication (2008). He has also published a number of articles in journals such as Alternate Routes, Critique; Critical Middle Eastern Studies, WeltTrends, Asian Journal of Social Sciences, Journal of Media and Religion, Iranian Social Science Letter, Communication and Culture, Global Media Journal, and in Women’s Studies. He has done extensive research on the generation gap in Iran and his latest research reports came out in spring 2005, spring 2006 and spring 2007. He is currently working on theoretical dimensions of the Internet and pathology. He has also worked on comparative aspects of university professors’ work load versus salaries. Mohammad Ahmadi is a PhD student in the Department of Media and Communication Studies at the University of Tehran. His research interests include areas of digital literacy, digital divide and new media. He has published articles in these fields in scholarly journals such as Amity Journal of Media and Communication Studies. Mito Akiyoshi is a professor in the Department of Sociology at Senshu University. Professor Akiyoshi has written and lectured widely on social implications of information and communication technologies. Her publications include “The diffusion of mobile Internet
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