Abstract
In this book, we attempt to draw a broad social picture of the backgrounds and consequences of the digital skills as defined in the previous chapter while we have mainly focused on Internet skills. Although skills are often linked to training or education, we take a more social-scientific or sociological approach. We will show that solutions beyond those of an educational nature should be sought in addressing the problem of a lack of digital skills.
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Further Reading
Van Dijk, J. A. G. M. (2005). The deepening divide, inequality in the information society. London; Thousand Oaks, CA; New Delhi: Sage.
This book unfolds the Resources Appropriation Theory that backs this chapter and the digital divide in general.
Tilly, C. (1998). Durable inequality. Berkeley, CA; Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.
A general theory of social inequality that argues that inequality is durable or reinforced in relations of power between people, especially in networks. Inequality is considered a relational characteristic between opposed category pairs such as management and employees, not an individual attribute of people such as poor or rich.
Warschauer, M. (2003). Technology and social inclusion: Rethinking the digital divide. Cambridge, MA; London: The MIT Press. Also departs from a resources basis for the digital divide and digital skills. Focussed predominantly on the situation of the developing countries.
Witte, J. C., & Mannon, S. E. (2010). The Internet and social inequalities. New York; London: Routledge.
Explains the digital divide and digital skills in several sociological perspectives (conflict, cultural, and functionalist). Provides American data.
Helsper, E. J. (2012). A corresponding fields model of digital inclusion. Communication Theory, 22, 403–426.
This article proposes a theoretical model that hypothesizes how specific areas of digital and social exclusion influence each other. In this corresponding fields model, it is argued that they relate mostly for similar (economic, cultural, social, personal) fields of resources.
Van Deursen, A. J. A. M., & Van Dijk, J. A. G. M. (2014a). The digital divide shifts to differences in usage. New Media & Society, 16(3), 507–526.
An article that reports participation data and the thesis of the usage gap.
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© 2014 Jan A. G. M. van Dijk and Alexander J. A. M. van Deursen
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van Dijk, J.A.G.M., van Deursen, A.J.A.M. (2014). Impact: Why Digital Skills Are the Key to the Information Society. In: Digital Skills. Palgrave Macmillan’s Digital Education and Learning. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137437037_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137437037_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-49370-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-43703-7
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