Description
The term digital divide is still used regularly to characterize the injustice associated with inequalities in access to information and communication technologies (ICTs). As the debate continues and becomes more sophisticated, more and more aspects of the distribution of ICTs are singled out as relevant to characterizations of the digital divide and of its moral status. The best way to articulate the digital divide is to relate it to other aspects of social and distributive justice, using a mixture of pre-existing theories within moral and political philosophy. These theories are complemented with contributions from sociology, communication studies, information systems, and a range of other disciplines.
Information Technology and Social Justice presents conceptual frameworks for understanding and tackling digital divides. It includes information on access and skills, access and motivation, and other various levels of access. It also presents a detailed analysis of the benefits and value of access to ICTs.
Reviews and Testimonials
Working from pre-internet concepts of social and distributive justice, editors Rooksby and Weckert present 13 chapters exploring the digital divide," explained as the potential disadvantages faced by populatons who lack access and training to new information and communications technologies."
– Book News Inc., August 2007
Author's/Editor's Biography
Emma Rooksby (Ed.)
Emma Rooksby is a research fellow at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Charles Sturt University, Australia. She has worked in the field of computer ethics since 1996, and has published numerous articles and a book in the field. Recent publications include E-mail and Ethics (Routledge, 2002) and ‘Understanding Condemnation: A Plea for Appropriate Judgement,’ with Peta Bowden, in Pedro Tabensky (ed.) Judging and Understanding: Essays on Free Will, Justice, Forgiveness and Love, Ashgate, 2006 (forthcoming).
John Weckert (Ed.)
John Weckert is Professorial Fellow at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE), and Professor of Information Technology in the School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University. He is manager of the CAPPE Research Programme IT and Nanotechnology: Ethics of Emergent Technology. His PhD is in Philosophy from the University of Melbourne and he has a Diploma in Computer Science from LaTrobe University.He has taught and published in the area of Information Technology for many years, and in recent times has published widely in the field of Computer Ethics.