02679nam a2200469Ii 4500 9781787565470 UtOrBLW 20251029120724.0 m o d cr un||||||||| 180917s2018 enk ob 001 0 eng d 9781787565470 (e-book) 9781787565494 (ePUB) UtOrBLW eng rda UtOrBLW HM851 .L87 2018 JHB bicssc SOC026000 bisacsh 316.4 Lupač, Petr, author. 60452 Beyond the digital divide : contextualizing the information society / Petr Lupač (Charles University, Czech Republic). Bingley, U.K. : Emerald Publishing Limited, 2018. ©2018 1 online resource (xiii, 211 pages) ; cm text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Includes index. Includes bibliographical references. This book critically reviews existing digital divide research and challenges its core thesis, which posits unequal Internet access as a newly formed source of social disadvantage. The author begins by introducing the building blocks of the information society theory. The book goes on to present a systematic overview of digital divide research - its development, arguments attesting to the social gravity of the digital divide, and current findings on the uneven diffusion and use of the Internet. It evaluates the validity of the theories and concepts associated with digital divide research. The author offers an overview and re-examination of six presumptions and biases found in the prevailing approach to the digital divide. Given that Internet use has, in certain contexts, become an absolute necessity, an alternative approach is proposed, recognizing the indispensability of Internet use as context dependent. The book concludes with a consideration of the implications that this new perspective has for the information society theory and policies as well as for the role of social science in the informatization process. Print version record Information society. 60101 Internet. 520 Equality. 59823 Marginality, Social. 60453 Social Science Sociology General. bisacsh Sociology. bicssc 57193 9781787565487 9781787565500 https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/doi/10.1108/9781787565470 51763 51763