Enhancing Digital Equity: Connecting The Digital Underclass

117 Pages·2020·1.482 MB·English

by  Massimo Ragnedda

Enhancing Digital Equity
Connecting the Digital
Underclass
Massimo Ragnedda
Enhancing Digital Equity
Massimo Ragnedda
Enhancing Digital
Equity
Connecting the Digital Underclass
Massimo Ragnedda
Northumbria University
Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
ISBN 978-3-030-49078-2 ISBN 978-3-030-49079-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49079-9
© 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: John Rawsterne/patternhead.com
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 I ntroduction 1
1.1 Overview of the Book 6
References 8
2 Theorizing Inequalities 11
2.1 Introducing Inequalities 12
2.1.1 Inequalities: Not Only an Economic Problem 15
2.2 Has Technology Become a Barrier to Social Mobility? 20
2.3 The New Digital Oligarchy 23
2.4 Concluding Remarks 28
References 30
3 Traditional Digital Inequalities: Digital Divide 39
3.1 Digitally and Socially Isolated. The Rise of the Digital
Underclass 40
3.2 Digital Divide: Not Only Access 43
3.3 The Third Level of Digital Divide 48
3.4 Concluding Remarks 50
References 53
4 New Digital Inequalities. Algorithms Divide 61
4.1 Yes, We Scan 65
4.2 Yes, We Bias 69
v
vi CoNTENTS
4.3 Yes, We Discriminate 72
4.4 Concluding Remarks 76
References 78
5 Connecting the Digital Underclass 85
5.1 Add Another Place at the Table 86
5.2 Promoting Digital Rights 89
5.2.1 Tackling Traditional Digital Inequalities 90
5.2.2 Tackling New Digital Inequalities 93
5.3 Enhancing Digital Equity 96
5.4 Concluding Remarks 98
References 101
6 Conclusions 105
References 110
Index 113
L f
ist of igures
Fig. 3.1 Three levels of digital divide 49
Fig. 4.1 Three levels of algorithms divide 64
Fig. 5.1 Digital rights 89
Fig. 5.2 Tackling traditional digital inequalities 91
Fig. 5.3 Tackling new digital inequalities 94
vii
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Abstract Digital technologies present an opportunity to reduce social
disparities and to tackle social exclusion. However, it is necessary to pro-
mote digital equity through programmes and services designed to face and
reduce traditional and new digital inequalities. The position the individual
holds in the network society, where economic and socially relevant infor-
mation circulates, is a key factor in terms of producing and reproducing
social inequalities. Furthermore, algorithms, due to the ways in which
they are designed, penalize and discriminate those already at the margin of
society. These forms of digital inequalities give rise to the digital under-
class. They are strongly penalized by exclusion both from the digital realm
and from social services, job opportunities or private services that imple-
ment biased algorithms to make their decisions.
Keywords Digital inequalities • Algorithms • Inequalities •
Digital equity
Enhancing Digital Equity: Connecting the Digital Underclass attempts to
sketch a concept of inequalities in the digital sphere and proposes a new
way to (re)think, analyse and understand inequalities in the digital age.
One of the lead motifs of this book is that if traditional digital inequalities
(digital divide) and new digital inequalities (algorithms divide) are not
addressed, social inequalities and social exclusion will be further bolstered.
© The Author(s) 2020 1
M. Ragnedda, Enhancing Digital Equity,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49079-9_1
2 M. RAGNEDDA
In fact, in the digital society, where an increasing number of services,
products, resources and activities are migrating online, those who are digi-
tally excluded are also socially excluded. At the same time, the advent and
implementation of tools relying on algorithms to make decisions has fur-
ther penalized specific social categories by normalizing inequalities, in the
name of efficiency and rationalization. As scholars, we should deconstruct
this narrative by highlighting the risks that automated process and predic-
tive model bring with them, specifically in terms of reinforcing inequalities.
In principle, digital technologies present an opportunity to reduce
social disparities, to tackle social exclusion, enhance social and civil rights,
and promote equity. However, to achieve these noble aims, it is necessary
to promote digital equity through programmes and services designed to
face and reduce traditional and new digital inequalities. We shall see how
different levels and forms of digital inequalities are intertwined with social
inequalities and how they tend to reinforce each other. We will also see
how the main axes of social inequality are still influencing and determining
disparities emerging with the advent of digital technologies. Furthermore,
we shall see that we cannot approach the issue of digital inequalities, with-
out tackling social inequalities, and vice versa. The position the individual
holds in the network society, where economic and socially relevant infor-
mation circulates, is a key factor in terms of producing and reproducing
social inequalities. At the same time, algorithms, due to the ways in which
they are designed, tend to penalize and discriminate those already at the
margin of society. These forms of digital inequalities are giving rise to the
digital underclass. This class of citizens is strongly penalized by exclusion
from both the digital realm—as they are digitally invisible—and social ser-
vices, job opportunities or private services that implement biased algo-
rithms to make their decisions.
Moving from the assumption that social and digital inequalities are
deeply intertwined, this book proposes a more nuanced theorization of
the links between social and digital inequalities and between social and
digital exclusion. The notion of inequality identifies disparities in terms of
well-being, incomes, consumption, access to health care, education and
life expectancy. More recently, both the uneven access to and use of new
technologies (traditional digital inequalities) and the inequalities deriving
from the algorithmizing of society and the extensive use of big data in
daily life (new digital inequalities) are considered forms of (digital)
inequalities. These digital inequalities, as we shall see, affect those already
socially disadvantaged the most, further cementing their underprivileged
1 INTRODUCTION 3
position in society. In fact, as it shall be clear in the chapters to come,
socially disadvantaged individuals or groups tend to have limited access to
resources and services and less control over life circumstances compared to
the hegemonic groups in society (Wilkinson and Marmot 2003). These
social groups, already discriminated against in the social realm, are at the
same time in a disadvantaged position in relation to information commu-
nication technologies (ICTs) (Mossberger et al. 2003; Gilbert et al. 2008),
thus widening social, cultural, personal, economic and political inequali-
ties (DiMaggio et al. 2001; Gordo 2003; Warschauer 2003; Barzilai-
Nahon 2006; Kvasny and Keil 2006; Gilbert et al. 2008). More specifically,
the ways individuals access and use ICTs is influenced by the main axes of
social inequalities, such as ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender, age
and geographic location (Alvarez 2003; Jackson et  al. 2003, 2008;
Kennedy et al. 2003; Lenhart and Horrigan 2003; Losh 2003, 2004;
Prieger and Hu 2008). The types of technologies individuals adopt, the
skills required to use them and the benefits obtained from them are the
basis of the three levels of digital divide (Ragnedda 2017), here labelled as
“traditional digital inequalities” (see Chap. 3). In addition to these, the
increased reliance on algorithms and big data for high-stakes decisions
brought in new forms of (digital)inequalities, namely inequalities in
knowledge, in dataset and in treatment (see Chap. 4). More specifically,
predictive modelling and artificial intelligence (AI) based on algorithms
treat people differently (inequalities in treatment) because they learn from
data that may underrepresent some social categories (inequalities in data-
set) whose consequences are often unknown to citizens who do not know
(inequalities in knowledge) how to protect themselves and to escape from
the invasiveness of algorithms. It is exactly this different way of treating
individuals based on biased algorithms that further widens social inequali-
ties, penalizing the already marginalized individuals and social groups.
This book, therefore, focuses on how the advent of digital technolo-
gies, despite their potentialities, is reinforcing social disparities, both
because some lack the resources and skills to use them fruitfully and
because they perceive and treat individuals in a prejudicial way. Socially
disadvantaged citizens often lack the skills and resources needed to resist
this categorical suspicion and inequalities of treatment. These inequalities
give rise to a social group that is utterly and negatively affected by the
advent of digital technologies: the digital underclass.
In sociology, the controversial concept of underclass is associated to a
group of people who, due to the lack of skills, resources or employment,