Vulnerable People and Digital Inclusion / Progress in Mathematics (PDF)

"This is a well-edited, a well-edited, coherent and rich collection of research essays about vulnerability and resilience of people trying to reach social and digital inclusion in six continents of the world."

- Jan van Dijk, Emeritus professor of Communication Science at the University of Twente and author of The Network Society, 4th Ed. (2020) and The Digital Divide (2020)

Vulnerable People and Digital Inclusion is impressive in both its systematic analysis of technological and social inequalities, as well as its wide-ranging perspectives and global populations of interest.

- Dr. Meryl Alper, Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies, Northeastern University

This edited collection explores the role of digital inclusion in the welfare and social inclusion of vulnerable people. With interdisciplinary contributors from six continents, working in diverse fields such as digital media studies, social computing, community informatics and cultural studies, the collection brings together theoretical and applied research evidence on three vulnerable population categories: ethnic minorities, older people and people with disabilities. Each section is accompanied by a critical commentary on the research insights presented, from third sector community and policy experts.

The collection explores whether vulnerable populations face similar experiences and challenges in relation to their digital inclusion status, stressing the central presence of intersectionality, and arguing for the inclusion of the age, ethnicity/immigration status and disability aspects of one's identity. At the same time, it argues for multi-directional action that tackles intersectional discrimination in the digital realm on behalf of more than one single population category or group. Challenging popular discourse on the overcoming of digital inequalities in the West, this essential book contends that accounts of non-western contexts do not focus on the parameter of vulnerability or on particular population groups.

PanayiotaTsatsou is Associate Professor at the University of Leicester. Her research interests lie in the areas of digital inclusion and Internet studies. Panayiota has published widely on the role of vulnerable and ordinary people as digital media actors.

Chapter 'Enhancing Older Adults' Digital Inclusion Through Social Support: A Qualitative Interview Study." is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.