Course:LIBR559A/Norris, P. (2001)

Citation

Norris, P. (2001). Digital Divide : Civic engagement, information poverty, and the Internet in democratic societies. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Purpose of article

To provide analysis of the role of the Internet in three areas of the digital divide: global, social, and democratic.

Main Argument(s) and supporting evidence

Norris discusses the three aspects of the digital divide as global, social, and democratic and divides her book accordingly to discuss each one in detail. The first section examines the digital divide globally and looks at the different international patterns of access to and use of the Internet between the developed and developing nations. The second section is devoted to the digital social divide as it applies within countries, specifically the racial, gender, and demographic differences. She notes that, like earlier forms of technology, the Internet in developed states will become more available to more people over time. The third and final section of her book explores the democratic divide that segregates the politically engaged from those who are not. She posits that the Internet has the potential to increase and strengthen the democratic process because it will afford the marginalized political parties a voice and a choice to make changes. These three conceptual frameworks enable Norris to advocate and promote e-democracy.

Method(s) (e.g., case studies, interviews, thought piece, survey)

The book draws from public opinion surveys from around the world, online civic engagement case studies, and content analysis of web sites.

Areas / Topics / Keywords

Digital Divide, Inequality, Political Participation, Digital Democracy, Civic Engagement

Author(s)’(s) understanding/definitions of key concepts

Technology is a combination of resources like money, motivation , and opportunities, and can be effectively used to encourage and strengthen civic engagement.

Theoretical frameworks followed by the author(s)

Internet Engagement Model. New technologies are a product of resources, motivation, and opportunities within the theory of civic engagement.

Novel ideas introduced by this article

ICTs, and the Internet in particular, are contradictory in nature because they can shift power relations to those who try to dominate others and those who resist. One of the more interesting aspects of Norris’s work is how technology can be appropriated by so many users for so many other purposes.

Pitfalls, blind spots, and weaknesses of this article

Norris’s notion of e-democracy is an ideal form that takes into account established political parties and good-intentioned activists. Her technologically utopian outlook, however, neglects to explore the Internet use of deviant groups who promote their own ideologies of hatred and violence, such as neo-Nazi and terrorist groups.

Potential Contribution to the scholarship of Social Studies of Library and Information and to the practice of Librarianship

Information professionals can enrich their own understanding of the digital divide not only across nations but within our own country as well. Technological accessibility, or the lack of it, can exacerbate an already troubling pattern of inequality. Library professionals need to continue their advocacy for equality beginning with information because it has the effect of improving the social and democratic influences within the different layers of government.

Page Author: Vivian McCollor