This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (18) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Selwyn, N. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Reconsidering Political and Popular Understandings of the Digital Divide

Cardiff University selwynnc{at}cardiff.ac.uk

This article presents a theoretical examination of the digital divide, tracing its origins in the centre–Left social inclusion policy agenda of the 1980s and 1990s to its current status of political ‘hot topic’. It then moves on to outline four conceptual limitations to conventional dichotomous notions of the digital divide and individuals’ ‘access’ to information and communications technology (ICT): what is meant by ICT; what is meant by ‘access’; the relationship between ‘access to ICT’ and ‘use of ICT’; and a lack of consideration of the consequences of engagement with ICT. The article outlines a more sophisticated, hierarchical model of the digital divide based around these conceptual ‘stages’ while recognizing the mediating role of economic, cultural and social forms of capital in shaping individuals’ engagements with ICT. It concludes by developing a set of research themes and questions for future examination of inequalities in individuals’ use of ICT.

Key Words: access • cultural capital • digital divide • ICT • inequalities • social capital

New Media & Society, Vol. 6, No. 3, 341-362 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/1461444804042519


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Sourbati 'It could be useful, but not for me at the moment': older people, internet access and e-public service provision New Media Society, November 1, 2009; 11(7): 1083 - 1100. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. Soderstrom Offline social ties and online use of computers: A study of disabled youth and their use of ICT advances New Media Society, August 1, 2009; 11(5): 709 - 727. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Nivala Simple answers for complex problems: education and ICT in Finnish information society strategies Media Culture Society, May 1, 2009; 31(3): 433 - 448. [PDF]

				L. J. Kenix Nonprofit Organizations' Perceptions and Uses of the Internet Television New Media, September 1, 2008; 9(5): 407 - 428. [Abstract] [PDF]

				T. Newholm, K. Keeling, P. McGoldrick, L. Macaulay, and J. Doherty The digital divide and the theory of optimal slack New Media Society, April 1, 2008; 10(2): 295 - 319. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. Livingstone and E. Helsper Gradations in digital inclusion: children, young people and the digital divide New Media Society, August 1, 2007; 9(4): 671 - 696. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. MacDougall Identity, Electronic Ethos, and Blogs: A Technologic Analysis of Symbolic Exchange on the New News Medium American Behavioral Scientist, December 1, 2005; 49(4): 575 - 599. [Abstract] [PDF]