The knowledge economy and the domestic sphere

Abstract

In recent years, information communication technologies (ICTs) have come to define the knowledge economy, in which developing regions also are avid participants. In this context, a less-studied sphere that ICTs have begun to increasingly penetrate is the domestic space of the home and the family. This study explores the place and dynamics of new media in domestic settings in urban South India, a region currently experiencing a boom in information technology industries. I draw on field research to understand the integration of cable television, the computer, and the Internet in urban South Indian homes. Using a conceptual framework of codified and tacit knowledge that has been proposed in the context of ICTs and knowledge transfer, I explore the domestic sphere as an important locale where tacit knowledge in relation to ICTs is produced. The findings suggest that the social place of newer media emerges from three sets of relationships in conjunction with media use in the home – (a) family dynamics, both nuclear and intergenerational, (b) newer media and the more traditional (mass) media that include terrestrial television, print and radio, and (c) the discourse of information and communication technologies between the private and the public arenas. I conclude the article by suggesting some possible links between this locale of tacit knowledge formation and the larger public sphere – the knowledge economy – that could be useful to consider for policy purposes.

Keywords:

• Knowledge economy
• development
• new media
• media in South Indian homes
• knowledge economy
• policy