Abstract
Despite much discussion of thedigital divide, little academic work hasdirectly analyzed the specific political andpolicy contexts in which the concept is beingdeveloped and deployed. This paper undertakesan analysis of one such initiative, theactivity of the supranational DigitalOpportunity Task Force (DOT Force). Theanalysis provides a critical discursiveanalysis of the final report of the DOT Force,together with thick description of theprocesses by which it was produced. Theresolution of numerous antagonisms between theparticipants in the narrative of the finalreport reflects the field of power in which theDOT Force operates. The issue of the digitaldivide can be best understood as providing agenerative resource through which the variouspolitical interests represented in the DOTForce process can normatively reconfigure theconceptual and ethical possibilities itsignifies to renew a dominant, singular'secular salvation story' of the global. Thespecific closure, articulation and legitimationof the digital divide instantiates anaction-oriented temporality and a transformedmoral agenda, from a concern with inequality toa pressing inclusionary imperative to connectwith the promise of technology and development.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
K. Annan. World Telecommunications Day Statement 2001. Accessed Dec. 2002 http://www.itu.int/newsarchive/wtd/ 2001/MessageUNSG.html
M. Bakhtin. The Dialogical Imagination, M. Holquist, editor. University of Texas Press, Austin, 1981.
T. Burchardt, J. Le Grand and D. Piachaud. Social Exclusion in Britain 1991–1995. Social Policy and Administration, 33(3): 227–244, 1999.
C. Carter and M. Grieco. New Deals, No Wheels; Social Exclusion, Tele-Options and Electronic Ontology. Urban Studies, 37(10): 1735–1748, 2000.
A. Carvin. Beyond Access: Understanding the Digital Divide. Paper presented at the NYU Third Act Conference, New York, May 19, 2000.
J. Cassidy. dot.con: The Greatest Story Ever Told. A Lane, London, 2002.
CID/WEF. The Global Information Technology Report 2001–2002: Readiness for the Networked World. Harvard University Press, Harvard, 2002.
D. Colby. Conceptualizing the 'Digital Divide': Closing the 'Gap' by Creating a Postmodern Network that Distributes the Productive Power of Speech. Communication Law and Policy, 6(1): 123–173, 2001.
B. Compaine. The Digital Divide: Facing a Crisis or Creating a Myth? MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2001.
N. Couldry. The Forgotten Digital Divide; Researching Social Exclusion in the Age of Personalised Media. Presented at Media in Transition: Globalization and Covergence, MIT, May 10–12, 2002.
DOI. Creating A Development Dynamic: From Digital Divide to Digital Opportunities for Development. Digital Opportunity Initiative, New York, 2001.
DOT Force. Digital Opportunities For All: Meeting the Challenge, http://www.dotforce.org/, 2001.
N. Fairclough. New Labour, New Language. Routledge, London, 2000.
O. Gandy. The Real Digital Divide. In L. Lievrouw and S.Livingstone, editors, The Handbook of New Media. Sage, London, 2002.
M. Goldman. The Birth of a Discipline: Producing Authoritative Green Knowledge, World-Bank Style. Ethnography, 2(2): 191–217, 2001.
S. Graham and S. Marvin. Splintering Urbanism. Routledge, London, 2001.
D. Haraway. Modest_Witness@Second_Millenium: Femaleman_ Meets_Oncomouse.... Routledge, London, 1997.
E. Hargittai. The Second Level Digital Divide. First Monday, 7(4): http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue7_4/ hargittai/, 2002.
S. Hellawell. Beyond Access: ICT and Social Inclusion. Fabian Society, London, 2001.
A. Honneth. The Struggle for Recognition: the Moral Grammar of Social Conflicts. Polity, Cambridge, 1996.
I. Kearns. Code Red: Progressive Politics in the Digital Age. IPPR, London, 2002.
E. Laclau and C. Mouffe. Hegemony and Socialist Strategy. Verso, London, 1985.
R. Levitas. The Inclusive Society? Social Exclusion and New Labour. Macmillan, London, 1998.
D. Lyon, editor. Surveillance as Social Sorting: Privacy, Risk and Digital Discrimination. Routledge, London, 2002.
R. Mansell. From Digital Divides to Digital Entitlements in Knowledge Societies. Current Sociology, 50(3): 407–426, 2001a.
R. Mansell. New Media and the Power of Networks. Paper presented at the First Dixons Public Lecture, London School of Economics, 23 October, 2001b.
K. McSorley. Performing Corporate Acoountability: Public Engagement on the Digital Divide. Salford Papers in Social Research, University of Salford, 2003.
A. Melucci. Challenging Codes: Collective Action in the Information Age. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996.
G. Murdock. Tackling the Digital Divide: Evidence and Intervention. Paper presented at The Digital Divide Day Seminar, British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, Coventry, 19th Feb 2002.
G. Myerson. Donna Haraway and GM Foods. Icon Books, Cambridge, 2000.
P. Norris. Digital Divide. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2001.
NTIA. Falling through the Net: A Survey of the 'Have Nots' in Rural and Urban America. U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington DC, 1995.
NTIA. Falling through the Net II: More Data on the Digital Divide. U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington DC, 1998.
NTIA. Falling through the Net III: Defining the Digital Divide. U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington DC, 1999.
NTIA. Falling through the Net IV: Towards Digital Inclusion. U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington DC, 2000.
NTIA. A Nation Online. U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington DC, 2002.
N. Perlas. Shaping Globalization: Civil Society, Cultural Power and Threefolding. Centre for Alternative Development Initiatives, Quezon City, Philippines, 2000.
S. Sassen. A New Geography of Power? Accessed Dec 2001. http://www.globalpolicy.org/nations/sassen.htm, 2001.
R. Schiller. Irrational Exuberance. Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 2000.
D. Schon. Generative metaphor: A perspective on problemsetting in social policy. In A. Ortony, editor, Metaphor and Thought, pp. 254–283. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1979.
N. Selwyn. Defining the 'Digital Divide': Developing a Theoretical Understanding of Inequalities in the Information Age. Cardiff University School of Social Sciences, Occasional Paper 49, 2002a.
N. Selwyn. E-stablishing an Inclusive Society? Technology, Exclusion and UK Government Policy-Making. Jounal of Social Policy, 31(1): 1–20, 2002b.
A. Sen. Development as Freedom. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1999.
D. Slater. Ethnography of the Internet. Paper presented at the University of Surrey INCITE Seminar Series, November 2001.
UNICT. Press Release: Launch of the UN Information and Communication Technology Task Force. UNICT, New York, 2001.
J. Van Dijk. The Network Society: Social Aspects of New Media. Sage, London, 1999.
WEF. From the Global Digital Divide to the Global Digital Opportunity. World Economic Forum, New York, 2001.
A. Wilhelm. Democracy in the Digital Age: Challenges to Political Life in Cyberspace. Routledge, London, 2000.
S. Zizek. The Sublime Object of Ideology. Verso, London, 1989.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McSorley, K. The secular salvation story of the digital divide. Ethics and Information Technology 5, 75–87 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024946302065
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024946302065