ABSTRACT
The development and expanding use of digital technology within economic, political, social and cultural life on a global scale is raising concerns about the emergence of new inequalities and the reproduction of existing inequalities (Wyatt et al., 2000). These developments are part of rapid social change, which is ushering in an information and networked society (Castells, 1996, 2001; Webster, 2004). Some commentators argue that the global informational capitalism underpinning an information and networked society is generating increasingly fragmented and unequal societies (Robins and Webster, 1999; Fuchs, 2008). This chapter draws on the work of the founding fathers of sociology to address inequality in a global information society. To trace this link, the chapter introduces the idea of a digital divide before considering the way technology is situated in socio-cultural change and inequality. It then discusses digital divides in global informational capitalism and the formation of new inequalities. This is followed by the conclusion.
