‘Good enough’ access: digital inclusion, social stratification, and the reinforcement of class in the Philippines

ABSTRACT

Digital inclusion should be understood in ways beyond access and must take into consideration class formation, the stratification of information, and structural systems of power. Although Philippine telecoms have continually developed products and services for the working poor, the question of what kinds of access persists. This article examines the different ways Filipinos are able to be digitally connected through prepaid mobiles, inexpensive internet access such as Pisonet, and as labourers in information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) companies. I argue that what is taking place is a ‘good enough’ access that reinforces existing class structures and raises new questions regarding inclusion. While there are increasingly new ways for Filipinos to be connected, digital inclusion also reveals new forms of social stratification, not simply between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ but rather, from the uneven access that is dictated by one’s accumulation of economic and cultural capital.

KEYWORDS:

• ICTs
• mobile phones
• Philippines
• digital divide
• digital inclusion

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Timothy Gibson for his guidance on early versions of this work, and Jason Cabañes, Gloria Pindi, and Andrew Spieldenner for their insightful feedback and comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cecilia S. Uy-Tioco

Cecilia S. Uy-Tioco is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Communication at California State University San Marcos. She holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from George Mason University. As an interdisciplinary scholar, her research is primarily engaged in interrogating the relationships between media, culture, and globalisation. In particular, she studies the Philippine telecom industry and reproduction of power and digital media and transnational Filipino migrants. She is currently working on a co-edited book with Dr. Jason Cabañes titled Mobile Media and Asian Social Intimacies to be published by Springer in 2019.