New Media, New Inequalities? A Cultural Capital Approach to Digital Inequality in Romania

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session III
  In Interactive Paper Session: Information Systems Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

We use a cultural capital approach to explore digital inequalities in Romania. A secondary analysis of 2005 data analyzed with Multiple Correspondence Analysis shows that: (1) oppositions between cultural engagement and disengagement and global and local cultural orientations structure the field of cultural practices in Romania; (2) lifestyle practices, Internet access and “online lifestyles” are socially differentiated and vary along those cultural dimensions; (3) cultural divisions mark boundaries of Internet adoption and the “online lifestyles” experienced by users, and Internet adoption and mark the boundaries between working classes and middle classes. We consider conceptual implications about the nature of cultural capital in a digital world and policy implications for identifying groups at risk from digital exclusion.

Authors

• Mihaela Popescu, California State U - San Bernardino

• Catalin Stoica, National School of Political and Administrative Studies

• Predrag Cveticanin, Educons U