"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 communic
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ations 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)." (Publisher description)
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"About 200 million people in Muslim-majority countries used the Internet in 2010, forming oneninth of the world’s population of netizens. Literature on the Muslim Internet tends to focus disproportionately on radical fundamentalism, overlooking the large numbers of ordinary Muslims for whom the In
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ternet is an increasingly important instrument of daily life. This article explores the spatiality of the Internet in 41 Muslim-majority countries in several steps. First, it outlines the important roles of telecommunications policies and infrastructure in structuring patterns of usage in the Muslim ecumene. Next, it depicts the distribution and growth of users. Third, it summarizes the contours of Muslim ecommerce and e-government, which, while still in their infancy, are nonetheless having substantial impacts on lives and communities. Finally, it illustrates the types and levels of Internet censorship that are found unevenly across the Muslim realm." (Abstract)
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"The Handbook presents a comprehensive, integrative, and global view of what has been called the digital divide. Collecting an international collaboration of experts, this Handbook of Research offers policy makers, academicians, managers, and researchers a complete reference source to the interactio
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ns, evolutions, and policies developing within the field. The many academic areas covered in this publication include, but are not limited to: broadband access; digital divide framing and mapping; digital divide related to education; digital divide related to ethnicity; digital divide related to gender; digital literacy; e-government and the digital divide; evolution of the digital divide; inequalities of digital skills; regional differences in digital divide." (Publisher description)
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