Lexington Books Digital Inclusion: An International Comparative Analysis (Communication, Globalization & Cultural Identity)

The volume examines the risks and opportunities of a digital society characterized by the increasing importance of knowledge and by the incessant rise and pervasiveness of information and communication technologies (ICTs). At a global level, the pivotal role of ICTs has made it necessary to rethink ways to avoid forms of digital exclusion or digital discrimination. This edited collection comprises of chapters written by respected scholars from a variety of countries, and brings together new scholarship addressing what the process of digital inclusion means for individuals and places in the countries analyzed. Each country has its own strategy to guarantee that people can access and enjoy the benefits of the information society. While this book does not presume to map all the countries in the world, it does shed light into these strategies, underlining what each country is doing in order to reduce digital inequalities and to guarantee that socially disadvantaged people (in terms of disabilities, availability of resources, age, geographic location, lack of education, or ethnicity) are digitally included. Review Massimo Ragnedda and Bruce Mutsvairo provide a long overdue account of digital exclusion from a global perspective. The contributors to this edited volume go beyond Western Europe, the Untied States, and Australia to consider the BRICS countries, the Middle East, and Africa and consider digital access empirically and theoretically. The essays in this volume highlight the costs of exclusion, but also the potential and opportunities that may result from greater inclusion.--James C. Witte, George Mason University About the Author Massimo Ragnedda is senior lecturer of mass communication at Northumbria University. Bruce Mutsvairo is associate professor in the School of Communication of the University of Technology Sydney.