Digital Inequalities in the Global South

378 Pages·2020·5.061 MB·English

by  Massimo Ragnedda, Anna Gladkova

GLOBAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN
MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION RESEARCH
A PALGRAVE AND IAMCR SERIES
Digital
Inequalities
in the
Global South
Edited by
Massimo Ragnedda
Anna Gladkova
IAMCR
AIECS
AIERI
Global Transformations in Media
and Communication Research - A Palgrave
and IAMCR Series
Series Editors
Marjan de Bruin
HARP, Mona Campus
The University of the West Indies
Mona, Jamaica
Claudia Padovani
SPGI
University of Padova
Padova, Italy
The International Association for Media and Communications Research
(IAMCR) has been, for over 50 years, a focal point and unique platform
for academic debate and discussion on a variety of topics and issues
generated by its many thematic Sections and Working groups (see
http://iamcr.org/) This new series specifically links to the intellectual
capital of the IAMCR and offers more systematic and comprehensive
opportunities for the publication of key research and debates. It will
provide a forum for collective knowledge production and exchange
through trans-disciplinary contributions. In the current phase of glo-
balizing processes and increasing interactions, the series will provide a
space to rethink those very categories of space and place, time and
geography through which communication studies has evolved, thus
contributing to identifying and refining concepts, theories and methods
with which to explore the diverse realities of communication in a chang-
ing world. Its central aim is to provide a platform for knowledge
exchange from different geo-cultural contexts. Books in the series will
contribute diverse and plural perspectives on communication develop-
ments including from outside the Anglo-speaking world which is much
needed in today’s globalized world in order to make sense of the com-
plexities and intercultural challenges communication studies are facing.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/15018
Massimo Ragnedda • Anna Gladkova
Editors
Digital Inequalities in
the Global South
Editors
Massimo Ragnedda Anna Gladkova
Northumbria University Faculty of Journalism
Newcastle upon Tyne, UK Lomonosov Moscow State University
Moscow, Russia
Global Transformations in Media and Communication Research - A Palgrave and
IAMCR Series
ISBN 978-3-030-32705-7 ISBN 978-3-030-32706-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32706-4
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2020
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the
publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to
the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The
publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
institutional affiliations.
Cover illustration: KTSDESIGN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/gettyimages
Cover design: eStudioCalamar
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
C
ontents
1 Introduction 1
Massimo Ragnedda and Anna Gladkova
2 Understanding Digital Inequalities in the Global South 17
Massimo Ragnedda and Anna Gladkova
Section I Digital Inequalities in South Asia 31
3 Impacts of the Digital Divide on the E-government
Portals of Nepal 33
Bhanu Bhakta Acharya
4 A Widening Digital Divide and Its Impacts on Existing
Social Inequalities and Democracy in Pakistan 59
Sadia Jamil
5 Widening the Wedge: Digital Inequalities and Social
Media in India 79
Padma Rani, Manjushree G. Naik, and Binod C. Agrawal
6 ICTs, Power Prejudice and Empowerment: Digital
Exclusion of the Poor in Rural Bangladesh 103
Mohammad Sahid Ullah
v
vi CONTENTS
Section II Digital Inequalities in Central and Western Asia 135
7 Weaponization of Access, Communication Inequalities as
a Form of Control: Case of Israel/Palestine 137
Hanna M. Kreitem
8 Digital Inequalities in CIS Countries: Updated Approach
to the Analysis of Situation 159
Olga Smirnova
9 A Comparison of High-Skill and Low-Skill Internet
Users in Northeast Anatolia, Turkey 177
Duygu Özsoy and Glenn Muschert
Section III Digital Inequalities in Africa 197
10 Digital Infrastructure Enabling Platforms for Health
Information and Education in the Global South 199
Danica Radovanović, Georges Vivien Houngbonon,
Erwan Le Quentrec, Ghislain Maurice Norbert Isabwe,
and Josef Noll
11 Moving Beyond the Rhetoric: Who Really Benefits from
Investments in Digital Infrastructure in Low-Income and
Low- Literacy Communities in Malawi? 223
Edister Samson Jamu, Tiwonge Davis Manda,
and Gowokani Chijere Chirwa
12 Digital Inequality and Language Diversity: An Ethiopic
Case Study 247
Isabelle A. Zaugg
13 The End of the Public Sphere: Social Media, Civic
Virtue, and the Democratic Divide 269
Last Moyo
CONTENTS vii
Section IV Digital Inequalities in South America 287
14 The Digital Divide: Observations from the South About
a Failed Dialog with the North 289
Cristian Berrío-Zapata
15 Social Inequality, Technological Inequality and Educational
Heterogeneity in the Light of the Conectar Igualdad
OLPC Programme (Salta, Argentina, 2015–2017) 319
Alejandra García Vargas, Laura Golovanevsky,
and María Rosa Chachagua
16 Afro-Creole Nationalism and the Maintenance of the
Digital Divide: The Case of Jamaica 347
Nova Gordon-Bell
Afterword: Knowledge—Whose Knowledge? 363
Bruce Mutsvairo
Index 369
n C
otes on ontributors
Bhanu Bhakta Acharya a scholar on e-government programs and poli-
cies, immigrants’ information and communication technology (ICT) use,
and the digital divide, is affiliated to the University of Ottawa, Canada.
Author of five books on communication and journalism, Acharya has
published several research articles in scholarly journals, attended
international conferences, and advocated for capacity-building of
communication professionals, including journalists, with regard to
employing professional standards and ethical practices. His primary
research interests include digital divide, diaspora communication,
e-government, journalism, and media ethics.
Binod C. Agrawal Mentor, Media Research Centre, Manipal Institute of
Communication, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India.
Cristian Berrío-Zapata is a professor at the Faculty of Archivology and
coordinator of the postgraduation of Information Science at the Institute
of Applied Social Sciences (ICSA), Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA),
Brazil. He holds a degree in Psychology and a major in Technology
Management and Competitiveness, master’s degree in Administration,
and PhD in Information Science. He researches information and
communication technology (ICT) from a critical perspective,
including power and discourse in the areas of digital divide, technology
appropriation, and information asymmetries. His research projects
are the critical perspective on information science, gender digital
divide, digital divide in universities, and epidemics as information
phenomena.
ix
x NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
María  Rosa  Chachagua CONICET (Sciences and Technologies
National Council) Postdoctoral fellow. PHD in Communication and
Media (Universidad Nacional de la Plata). Researcher in the Centro de
Investigaciones Interdisciplinarias sobre Tecnologías y Desarrollo Social
(Universidad de Jujuy y CONICET) and in Universidad Nacional
de Salta.
Gowokani Chijere Chirwa is a Lecturer in Economics at the University
of Malawi—Chancellor College. Currently, he is pursuing PhD in
economics at the University of York, UK.
Anna Gladkova is PhD in Journalism, Leading Researcher and Director
of International Affairs Office at the Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov
Moscow State University, Russia. Her research interests include ethnic
media, digital inequalities and digital divides. She is co-vice chair of the
Digital Divide Working Group (IAMCR), IAMCR Ambassador in Russia
and member of the IAMCR International Council.
Laura Golovanevsky PhD in Economics (Universidad de Buenos Aires),
Master in Social Sciences (Universidad Nacional de Jujuy), Postdoctoral
Programme in Social Sciences (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba).
Professor in Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Researcher in CONICET
(Sciences and Technologies National Council). Director of the Centro de
Estudios para el Desarrollo Económico con Equidad (CESDE-School
of Economics, Universidad de Jujuy) and researcher in the Centro de
Investigaciones Interdisciplinarias sobre Tecnologías y Desarrollo
Social (Universidad de Jujuy y CONICET). Secretary of Postgraduate
Studies (School of Economics, Universidad de Jujuy).
Nova  Gordon-Bell is a lecturer in media and communication and
Coordinator of Graduate Studies at the Caribbean School of Media and
Communication (CARIMAC), University of the West Indies at
Mona, Jamaica. Dr. Gordon-Bell’s extensive professional experience
in the public and private sector spans public information, journalism,
advertising and publishing. She has served on the board of directors
of several public bodies and as consultant in media and communication
for non-governmental organizations involved in community activism,
climate resilience and service.
Georges Vivien Houngbonon is an economic researcher at Orange
Labs. His research employs econometrics techniques and individual-level
data to answer questions related to the economics of digital technologies,