Greener Journal of Internet, Information and Communication Systems. Vol. 3 (3), pp. 41-51, December 2017.  

ISSN: 2354-2373

Research Paper

Manuscript Number: 121118173

Research Article (DOI: http://doi.org/10.15580/GJIICS.2017.3.121118173)

 

Digital divide and postmodern perspectives for new ICT access policies in developing societies: rethinking economism in the neo-imperial dystopian context

 

Alfred Ndi

 

University of Bamenda, Republic of Cameroon

  

ABSTRACT

 

This paper set out to challenge the orthodox view that the problematic phenomenon of the digital divide is solely a matter of access to economic resources. This deterministic hypothesis suggests that by making resources available especially to Third World countries, the phenomenon would simply go away. The paper argues that, in as much as economic resources in sufficient quantities would be a desirable proposition because it would address some aspects of the problem, the phenomenon is much more complex and requires an integrative and holistic approach. Using the postmodernist theory to information and communication technologies, and resourcing data from a review of critical analyses, it comes to the conclusion that, beyond the metanarrative of economism that explains  digital divide  as a physical problem of access to computers, there are new and localizing narratives that range from  new knowledge barriers, the human location of the digital gap, and definitional assumptions and issues, to questions of differentiation of benefits, disparity in big data promotion, material and social conditions of technological assimilation, international policy and cultural/moral factors and the class structure of society. 

Keywords: Digital divide, ICT access, economism, post-modernism approach, gender outreach, nation state policies, morality of international cooperation, disability narratives,   generational factors, re-embedding multiple layers of inequality.

Return to Content       View [Full Article - PDF]

[Full Article - HTML]          [Full Article - EPUB]

Post-review Rundown

View/get involved, click [Post-Review Page]

REFERENCES

 

Braman, S, 2003, From the modern to the postmodern: the future of global communications theory and research in a pandemonic age, In Bella Mody, ed,International and Development Communication: A 21st-Century Perspective, [10 October, 2018] DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452229737.n8

 

Bolt, D., and Crawford, R. A. K., 2000, Digital divide: computers and our children’s future, New York: TV Books

 

Bohn, R., 1994, Measuring and managing technological knowledge, Sloan Management Review, 61-73.

 

Bucy, E. P., 2000, Social access to the Internet. Harvard International Journal of Press Politics, 5(1): 50–6.

 

Chadwick, D.; Wesson, C.; Fullwood, C. 2013, Internet access by people with intellectual disabilities: Inequalities and opportunities. Future Internet,  5: 376–397.

 

Chaudhry V., 2005, Rethinking the digital divide in relation to visual disability in India and the United States: towards a paradigm of information inequity, Disability Studies QuarterlySpring,25:2.[10 October, 2018] <www.dsq-sds.org>

 

Clauss, K.; Wakahiu, J.; Salvaterra, M. 2013, Using technology to educate religious women in Africa. Am. Int. J. Soc. Sci. 2, 29–37.

 

Chradie, J, 2011, The digital production gap: the digital divide and Web 2.0 collide, Poetics. 39(2): 145–168

 

Compaine, B., 2001, The digital divide: facing a crisis or creating a myth? Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

 

DiMaggio, P. Hargittai, E. Celeste, C. Shafer, S., 2004, Digital inequality: From unequal access to differentiated use. In Neckerman, K.M., ed.; Social Inequality, New York: NY, USA Russell Sage Foundation.

 

Dugdale, A. 2013, One fifth of women in the developing world think Internet use is inappropriate for them. Online: http://www.fastcompany.com/3004797/one-fifth-women-developing-world-countries-think-internet-use-inappropriate-them.

 

Ebo, B., 1998, Cyberghetto or cyberutopia: race, class, and gender on the Internet. Westport, CT: Praeger Press.

 

Gill, K.; Brooks, K.; McDougall, I.; Patel, P.; Kes, A. 2010, Bridging the gender divide: how technology can advance women economically, Washington, DC, USA: International Centre for Research on Women

 

Graham, M., 2011, Time machines and virtual portals: the spatialities of the digital divide, Progress in Development Studies, 11 (3): 211–227.

 

___________ 2014. The knowledge based economy and digital divisions of labour, In V. Desai, and R. Potter., eds, Companion to Development Studies,   Abingdon: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

 

Gramsci, A., 1972, Selections from the prison notebooks of Antonio Gramsci. New York: International Publishers.

 

Gunkel, J. D., 2003, Second thought: toward a critique of the digital divide. New Media & Society, 5(4): 499-522.

 

Hacker, L. K., and Mason, M. S., 2003, Ethical gaps in studies of the digital divide. Ethics and Information Technology 5: 99-115.

 

Hafkin, N. Huyer, S. Cinderella C, 2007,  Empowering women in the knowledge society.In Development in Practice. Bloomfield, CT, USA: Kumarian Press.

 

Hafkin, N.; Taggart, N. 2001, Gender, IT and developing countries: an analytic study, Washington, DC, USA: Center for Education Innovations. 

 

Heavey, S. 2013. Women in India, other developing countries lag in Internet use. Online: http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/01/10/internet-access-women-india-developing-idINDEE90902820130110.

 

Hoffman, D. L., Novak, T. P., and Schlosser, A. E., 2000, The evolution of the digital divide: How gaps in Internet access may impact electronic commerce. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 5(3).Retrieved April 24, 2004, from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol5/issue3/hoffman.html.

 

Holtfreter, K., Reisig, M. D., Pratt, T. C., and Holtfreter, R. E., 2015, Risky remote purchasing and identity theft victimization among older Internet users. Psychology, Crime & Law, 21, 681-698. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2015.1028545.

 

Jenkins. H., 2006, Convergence culture. How old and new media collide. New-York, NY: New York University Press.

 

Kanungo, S., 2004, On the emancipatory role of rural information systems. Information Technology and People, 17(4): 407-422.

 

Kogut, B. and U. Zander, Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology, Organization Science, 1992, 3(3): 383-397.

 

Kroeze, J, 2010, Ontology goes postmodern in ICT, SAICSIT '10 Proceedings of the 2010Annual Research Conference of the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists, BelaBela, South Africa - October 11-13.

 

Kularski, C., and Moller, S., 2012, The digital divide as a continuation of traditional systems of inequality. Sociology  5151: 1-23.

 

Kvasny, L., 2006, The cultural (re)production of digital inequality. Information, Communication and Society, 9: 160-181.

 

Kvasny, L. and M. Keil, 2006. The challenges of redressing the digital divide: a tale of two U.S. cities, Information Systems Journal, 16(1):  23-53.

 

Kvasny, L., 2006, Let the sisters speak: understanding information technology from the standpoint of the Other, The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems, 37(4): 13-25.

 

Kvasny, L., and Truex, D., 2001, Defining away the digital divide: A content analysis of institutional influences on popular representations of technology. In B. Fitzgerald, N. Russo, and J. DeGross. eds., Realigning Research and Practice in Information Systems Development: The Social and Organizational Perspective, New York: Kluwer 

         Academic Publishers.

 

Lax, S. ed., 2001, Access denied in the information age. New York: Palgrave. 

 

Liyanagunawardena, T., Adams, A., Rassool, N., Williams, S. 2013, Using non-personal computers for e-Learning: Sri Lankan experience. J. Educ. Train. Stud. 1: 152–158.

 

Luyt, B., 2004, Who benefits from the digital divide? First Monday, 9(8). [online 10 Dec. 2018]

http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue9 8/luyt/index.htm

 

Moolman, J.; Primo, N.; Shackleton, S. 2007, Taking a byte of technology: Women and ICTs. Empower. Women Gend. Equity, 21, 4–14.

 

Ndi, A., 2012, Setting the stage of ‘ab/normality’ in rehabilitative narratives: rethinking medicalization of the disabled African body, Disability Studies Quarterly, 32(2). [online10 October, 2018] http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/3195/3066.

 

______ Why liberal capitalism has failed to stimulate a democratic culture in Africa: rethinking Amartya Sen’s theory about development as freedom, Journal of Developing Societies, https://doi.org/10.1177/0169796X1102700204

 

Nel, D.F and Kroeze, J, 2008, Information technology as an agent of post-modernism, http://cogprints.org/6207/.

 

Norris, P. 2001, Digital divide: civic engagement, information poverty, and the Internet worldwide (communication, society and politics). Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, MA, USA,

 

Ono, H., and Zavodny, M. 2007, Digital inequality: A five country comparison using microdata. Soc. Sci. Res., 36: 1135–1155.

 

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2004, Understanding economic growth: a macro-level, industry-level, and firm-level perspective, Science & Information Technology, 2004(7): 1-164.

 

_____________________ 2001, Understanding the digital divide; OECD: Paris, France.

 

Palmer, S. B., Wehmeyer, M. L., Davies, D., and Stock, S., 2012, Family members’ reports of the technology use of family members with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 56, 402-414. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2788.2011.01489.

 

Parsons, S., Daniels, H., Porter, J., and Robertson, C., 2008, Resources, staff beliefs and organizational culture: Factors in the use of information and communication technology for adults with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 21, 19-33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-3148.2007.00361.

 

Perkins, E. A., and LaMartin, K. M., 2012, The Internet as social support for older carers of adults with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Policy & Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 9, 53-62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-1130.2012.00330.

 

Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2001, The Internet and education. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Schools_Report.pd.

 

Reilley, C, A., 2011, Teaching Wikipedia as a mirrored technology, First Monday, 16: 1-3.

 

Reinhart, J., Thomas, E., Toriskie, J., 2011, K-12 teachers: technology use and the second level digital divide, Journal of Instructional Psychology, 38 (3/4): 181

 

Rivas-Costas, C., Anido-Rifon, L., Fernandez-Iglesias, M. J., Gomez-Carballa, M. A., Valladares-Rodriguez, S., and Soto-Barreiros, R., 2014, An accessible platform for people with disabilities. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 30, 480-494. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2014.888503.

 

Rocha, T., Bessa, M., Gonçalves, M., Cabral, L., Godinho, F., Peres, E.,. Chalmers, A., 2012,  The recognition of web pages' hyperlinks by people with intellectual disabilities: An evaluation study. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 25, 542-552. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-3148.2012.00700.

 

Sassi, S., 2005, Cultural differentiation of social segregation? Four approaches to the digital divide. New Media & Society, 7: 684-700.

 

Sallafranque St-Louis, F., 2015,L'utilisationd'Internetet la sollicitationsexuellesur le web auprès des personnes avec unedéficienceintellectuelle (DI) ou un trouble du spectre de l'autisme. [Doctoral dissertation] [The use of the Internet and sexual solicitation among people with intellectual disabilities (ID) or autism spectrum disorder]. [10 October, 2018] http://di.uqo.ca/818/1/Essai_Francois_SallafranqueSt-Louis_2015.pdf

 

Seale, J., 2014, The role of supporters in facilitating the use of technologies by adolescents and adults with learning disabilities: A place for positive risk-taking? European Journal of Special Needs Education, 29, 220-236. [10 October, 2018] http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2014.906980.

 

Selwyn, N., Gorard, S., and Williams, S., 2001, Digital divide or digital opportunity? The role of technology in overcoming social exclusion in U.S. education. Educational Policy, 15(2): 258-277.

 

Shpigelman, C.N., 2016, Sense of belonging of Facebook users with intellectual disabilities. Paper presented at the Fifth Conference of Alter, European Society for Research on Disability, Stockholm, Sweden.

 

Shpigelman, C.N., and Gill, C. J., 2014, How do adults with intellectual disabilities use Facebook? Disability & Society, 29, [10 October, 2018] 1601-1616. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2014.966186.

 

Sigafoos, J., O’Reilly, M., Cannella, H., Upadhyaya, L., Edrinsinha, C., Lancioni, G. E. Young, D., 2005, Computer-presented video prompting for teaching microwave oven use to three adults with developmental disabilities. Journal of Behavioral Education, 14, 189-201. [10 October, 2018] http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10864-005-6297-2.

 

Stale  A, R, 2008, Exploring the gap of the digital divide: conditions of connectivity and higher education participation, GeoJournal, 71(2/3):171-184.

 

Stock, S. E., Davies, D. K., Davies, K. R., and Wehmeyer, M. L., 2006, Evaluation of an application for making palmtop computers accessible to individuals with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 31, 39-46. [10 October, 2018] http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13668250500488645.

 

Stork C and Gillwald, A., 2013, Internet going mobile: Internet access and use in 11 African countries, [10 October, 2018]https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263367694_Internet_going_mobile_Internet_access_and_use_in_11_African_countries.

 

Stephenson, J., and Limbrick, L., 2015, A review of the use of touch-screen mobile devices by people with developmental disabilities. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders,45, 3777-3791. [10 October, 2018] http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10803-013-1878-8.

 

Strochlic, N. 2014. The Facebook page where Iran’s women are unveiling, Online: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/18/the-facebook-page-where-iran-s-women-are-unveiling-online.html.

 

Tanis, E. S., Palmer, S., Wehmeyer, M., Davies, D. K., Stock, S. E., Lobb, K., and Bishop, B., 2012, Self-report computer-based survey of technology use by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 50, 53-68,.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1352/1934-9556-50.1.53.

 

Taber-Doughty, T., Shurr, J., Brewer, J., and Kubik, S., 2010, Standard care and telecare services: Comparing the effectiveness of two service systems with consumers with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 54, 843-859.,  http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2788.2010.01314.

 

United Nations (UN) e-Government Survey. 2012. Available online:  http://unpan3.un.org/egovkb/Portals/egovkb/Documents/un/2012-Survey/unpan048065.pdf

 

Van Dijk, J.; Hacker, K. 2003,The digital divide as a complex and dynamic phenomenon. Inf. Soc. Int. J. 19, 315–326.

 

Warschauer, M., 2003, Technology and social inclusion: Rethinking the digital divide, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

 

Walsh, E. O., 2000, The truth about the digital divide. Foster technographics brief. Cambridge, MA: Forrester Research, Inc.          

 

Weingarten, E. 2013.The developing world needs more female Internet users. Available online:http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/01/a_new_report_on_female_internet_users_from_the_developing_world.html

 

Wresch, W., 1996, Disconnected: haves and have-nots in the information age, New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

 

 

                             

Cite this Article: Ndi A (2017). Digital divide and postmodern perspectives for new ICT access policies in developing societies: rethinking economism in the neo-imperial dystopian context. Greener Journal of Internet, Information and Communication Systems, 3(3): 41-51, http://doi.org/10.15580/GJIICS.2017.3.121118173.