E-Cohesion? The Internet and Social Capital building in Wired cities

Pauline Hope Cheong, Ph.D.

May 15th. 2008

International and Theoretical Perspectives on Social Cohesion Conference, Brussels

E-Society ?

Goals of this Presentation

proposes a critical framework to assess the relationships between the Internet, social capital and social cohesion, within the contemporary and contested notion of the ‘information society’

critically unpack the relationships between new media and social cohesion by discussing the politically laden implications of the Internet for social capital building

E-Cohesion…. ?

Dominant Paradigm: Social Cohesion founded upon social capital building

transforms

diminishes

Internet Social Capital

Social

Cohesion

supplements

Dominant Paradigm: Social Cohesion founded upon social capital building

transforms

Internet Social Capital

Digital Inclusion

in ‘information society’

Internet framed as ‘cure’

: Technological solution toward maintenance of social cohesion

Dominant Paradigm: Social Cohesion founded upon social capital building

diminishes

Internet Social Capital

Rich ‘presence’,

oral, proximatecommunity

Internet as ‘curse’

: Media as inimical to ‘optimal’ bonding and bridging ties

Dominant Paradigm: Social Cohesion founded upon social capital building

supplements

Internet Social Capital

‘Networked’ online and

offline community

Internet as ‘complement’

: Internet to provide “social affordances’ for “multiplicative social capital”

Alternative perspective: Social Capital as outcome of social inequalities

Social

InequalitiesSocial Capital

Internet as ‘contingent’

: Internet competes with an established habitus in peoples’ everyday ‘communication action contexts’ (Cheong, 2006)

Technological

Capital

Alternative perspective: Social Capital as outcome of social inequalities

Internet as ‘contingent’

• Broadened and Plural view of digital divide (s)

• Social appropriation, existing political climates

• Positive role of debate and contestation for social cohesion

• Virtual public sphere, Cyberactivism, and opposition

• Reframing ‘non’-use, ‘proxy’ use

E-cohesion?… @ www.neighborhood Spaces

DataData

(geo-referenced)(geo-referenced)

Physical Place

Internet Internet codecode

: ‘Augmented spaces’

: ‘Digiplace’

: hybrid ontologies

In Conclusion

Discussed and assessed multiple models to describe the relationships between internet and social capital

Contextual use, ‘non’ & proxy use of internet, amidst political and ideological climate

Evolving role of internet as meta-medium Changing ontological and axiological assumptions of

internet and nucleus of social cohesion

Questions ?

Thank You

Paulinehopecheong@gmail.com

Pauline Hope Cheong, Ph.D.