Inequality.com: Politics, Poverty and the Digital Divide

by Kieron O'Hara, David Stevens

In this revelatory new book, prominent academics O'Hara and Stevens tackle all the thorny issues which crop up when you realize that the Internet is just another practically unregulated space in which actions take place. Whereas suppliers of goods, services and information often have to ensure availability to all in the real world and are subject to strict rules, in the virtual sphere such conventions rarely exist. On this note, the authors inspect how the lack of internet access to the poor can deprive them of services and information that are essential to their status as equal citizens in society. Likewise, they discuss how uncertainty about future technologies undermines our personal liberty - we can never be sure how the trail of information we leave about ourselves will be used in years to come.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2006