Reading: Power and the Digital Divide

Sunday 15th August, 2010 - 12:02pm with 0 comments

Subject: Regulating Communication
Reading: Moss, J. (2002). ‘Power and the Digital Divide’, Ethics and Information Technology, vol. 4, no. 2.

• Power-over: hierarchical relationships between agents where agents’ actions are structured by a dominant agent or group
• Power-to: the ability that an agent has to do or be various things
• if there were no people with ability to control others, and those others had abilities worthy of direction, then there could be no power relations
• those governed by power must have some power to implement actions
• Force (exclusionary practices):
  • disadvantages suffered as a result of lack of access to ICT resources
  • A keeps B from doing X, or makes B do something that B would not otherwise do
  • primarily negative in preventing rather than persuading
• Coercion (discipline):
  • allowing visual surveillance
  • changing specific action or behaviour through a threat
  • A coerces B when A is in position to alter alternatives for action that B has, making a threat
  • productive and causes an action
• Influence
  • discipline has consequences that defines new aspects of individuals’ identity
  • influence options for action that people have – subjectivity and actions they perform
  • disciplinary power operates to make someone want to do something without threat

Posted on: Sunday, August 15th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Categories: University
Tags: power · readings · regulating communication
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