The Internet and Social Inequalities [Hardcover]

Ideal for use as a core or secondary text in lower division social inequalities or social problems courses, this book explains how the changing nature and uses of the Internet not only mirror todays social inequalities, but also are at the heart of how stratification is now taking place. A pioneering work, both intellectually, and pedagogically.

1. A Sociology of the Internet  2. Internet Use Among American Adults  3. Internet Inequality From a Conflict Perspective  4. Internet Inequality From a Cultural Perspective  5. Internet Inequality From a Functionalist Perspective  6. Patterns of Inequality and the Future of the Internet

The Internet and Social Inequalitiesprovides a useful overview of theories relevant to understanding inequality in access to and use of the new digital inequalities. By placing research on the digital divide into the context of major theoretical traditions, the authors provide a rich framework for understanding this critical form of inequality. Paul DiMaggio, Sociology, Princeton University

Jim Witte and Susan Mannon did not just write another book about the empirical facts on internet users, but rather innovatively put the numbers they provide in an array of sociological perspectives. Moreover they provide a wealth of statistical facts and figures making the book an important standard text for students and researchers. Gert Wagner, Economics,Berlin University of Technology

In sum, the text is well written and clearly organized. The introductory chapter offers an interesting overview of the phenomenon of the digital divide, and the three central chapters are excellent and stimulatingly insightful in combining the classical sociological theories with recent empirical data. The final clÓ: