Article,
Cultural (Re) production of digital inequality in a US community technology initiative
Information, Communication & Society, 9 (2): 160-181 (April 2006)
Abstract
In the US, community technology centers (CTC) are a policy response
to facilitate the diffusion of information and communication technologies
(ICT) to citizens who might otherwise lack access to these resources.
The implicit assumption guiding CTC initiatives is that access to
ICT will improve the life chances of the individuals who become involved
in these centers. It is, however, prudent to empirically examine
this assumption because the case for community technology interventions
is somewhat weakened if the benefits of ICT use fail to accrue to
those who are disadvantaged. Informed by Bourdieu's theory of reproduction,
this study of a CTC initiative in an inner-city community explores
the role of culture in reproducing digital inequality. Digital inequality
reflects not only disparities in the structure of access to and use
of ICT; it also reflects the ways in which longstanding social inequities
shape beliefs and expectations regarding ICT and its impacts on life
chances. While this initiative is considered successful in the sense
that it provided access and basic computer literacy to residents
lacking these resources, it represents a technology-centric fix to
a problem that is deeply rooted in systemic patterns of spatial,
political and economic disadvantage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c)
2007 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)
