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Abstract
Drawing upon the concept of capital and its uneven distribution, as outlined by Bourdieu, the article highlights the importance of social class, occupational status and place in understanding how individuals and communities make use of and benefit from technology in their everyday lives. Based upon quantitative and qualitative research conducted in the city of Sunderland, England, the article addresses the extent and manner to which those in ‘socially excluded’ areas of the city engage with technology, specifically personal computers and the internet and the impact of such engagement upon quality of life and social inclusion. The research indicates that the manner in which technology is experienced by marginalized social groups in this place, does not fit neatly with a dominant discourse of digital inclusion which emphasizes technology as a means for social inclusion, particularly in the realms of civic participation, educational achievement and employment.
Notes
The current UK government has now announced that it hopes to achieve 90 per cent coverage in the UK by the year 2015 (Hunt Citation2011).
This evaluation was co-funded by the Department of Communities and Local Government and Sunderland City Council.
In 2010 the national average unemployment rate for Great Britain was 8 per cent and the average for Sunderland 11 per cent (Office for National Statistics Citation2010).
Social class and definition of working class is identified here using NS-SEC L7-L14 occupations, educational history and self-definition (Crozier et al. Citation2010).
Due to ethical considerations no one under the age of 16 was involved in the study.
All names used in this article are pseudonyms.
Given that these surveys focus on a sample from across the city as opposed to socially excluded areas, there needs to be a level of caution exercised when interpreting this data.
Although we can see a rise in ownership in survey two, no statistical relationship can be drawn from this as the data were not statistically significant.