Communication for Alternative Humanity:
Technological perspective
By Rev Dr Joshva Raja 2004
Introduction:
The
use of the word Alternative Humanity implicitly refers to the fact that there
is a need to bring certain changes in the present humanity or replace it with
an alternative humanity. Such thinking is in mind of human beings since the
time immemorial. Human beings tend to develop themselves in one way or the
other. The concept of progress is in the mind of communities who lived long
before us. People have been striving for their better life which are either
expressed through their imagination or through their religious faith or through
stories and dreams. They think about Kingdom of God or eternal life in
Christianity or Ramraj in Hinduism or Umma in Islam. For many religious people
these are ideals towards which people are moving. For some these concepts are
to be realised or established here and now. For some such metaphors point to a
real world beyond which would replace the present and provide the best possible
life. All these concepts and beliefs
point to the fact that the present humanity somehow has problems and has to be
replaced with an ideal humanity which one may call as an alternative humanity.
In this sense communicating for alternative humanity means to bring about
changes in the present world of realities.
Different
societies underwent different ‘isms’ at different historical stages in order to
develop themselves towards a better society. Some ‘isms’ were imposed on the
members or societies where some happened to be mass movements. For example,
some societies underwent through capitalism communism, socialism, casteism,
imperialism, colonialism, modernism and so on. These processes have brought a
few changes which are success stories in some cases and are failures in others.
Those who followed some of these ‘isms’ were ready to sacrifice their life to
spread them believing that they could bring about an alternative society in
this world. Such ‘isms’ are not uncommon to communities in India. India is
country of varieties and pluralities where such ‘isms’ could take root only in
a few states and places. These concepts and social understanding have brought
and are bringing a few changes in societies and communities. However a group of
people remained or became a class of oppressors and exploiters whereas another
group of people became a class of poor and marginalised. It has become an
inevitable that the NGOs, churches and other social institutions who are
interested in serving communities continue to play a major role in changing,
challenging and supporting communities.
Within
this context an alternative humanity refers to a community where people and
social institutions tend to help each other within their constraints in order
that the sufferings of the present humanity could be reduced. Communication as
a process of sending, receiving, participating, interacting and sharing plays
an important in every society. Without changes in communication the society
remains static. Even though other social processes such as urbanisation and
industrialisation shape people’s daily realities, communication too guide,
shape and direct people’s attitude, life and behaviour to many extent.
Communication as a process can be destructive as well as constructive. In order
to communicate towards an alternative humanity the real communication should
enable people to build up constructive relationship where such an ideal
situation can be realised at least to some extent. One has to identify those
elements of communication that could enable people to change their present
community into an alternative community where all human beings are given their
respect, freedom and understanding.
An
alternative humanity does not refer to a technocratic or technologically
saturated society nor point to a technologically powerful or superior humanity.
But it suggests a community that allows everyone to have access to resources in
general and communication resources in particular. In this sense communication
as a process can serve the humanity to bring about changes where it is needed.
It can also support and uphold those elements of development, progress and
advancement in every society. In order to bring about changes people should be
able to recognise and communicate among themselves their life related issues
and problems. Communication as a process should enable people to participate in
their own life struggles and in their development by sharing their knowledge
and wisdom among themselves as well as drawing from other communities.
Communication
can build relationship and thereby can build communities. In the process of
building relationship, it can also bring about social changes and development
among the communities so that their lives become a better one than before. The
present humanity is facing tension, confrontation, conflicts and violence in
the name of religion, identities and culture. Some of the issues like poverty,
corruption and decease have become a reality everywhere. In such contexts to
bring alternative humanity some of these issues should be addressed and those
problems need to be reduced or eliminated. If the social communication process
could be changed a energetic resource for addressing those issues as well as
eliminating some of these problems, there is a possibility of bringing about
alternative humanity among the communities. This article will try to highlight
the way in which such changes could be brought about in our communication
practices using technology and thereby an alternative humanity through changes in
society. Let me limit myself to Information Communication Technology rather
than technology in general which would help me to limit myself to refer to the
present attempts by NGOs and Governments as examples.
Communicating towards Alternative Humanity
A
universal model or theory for communication is impossible, as the understanding
of alternative humanity itself would vary from country to country. What is
being analysed here in this section is one of the ways of studying the social
process. It is also constrained within a particular context and history. These
variables need to be kept in mind so that a blind generalisation is not made in
the minds of the readers. One of the oldest communication models is that if a
person knows how to solve a particular issue or problem he or she must inform
others the way he solved that particular problem. This is what is called
diffusion model. If there are projects that would bring about social changes
and so development among communities, then information about such projects
should reach them. In order to reach out to the people, all the available means
and formats of communication should be used. In this sense radio, television
and computers need to be used in order to bring about this information to the
people. For Everet Rogers in order to diffuse those information, it is
essential to transfer technological innovations from development agencies to
their clients and to create an appetite for change through raising a climate
for modernisation among the members of the public[1].
Modernisation perspective identifies the problem within the developing nations.
Diffusion theory works on the model of
Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver (SMCR) and implies that communication can make
an impact on the lives of the people. White[2]
argues that the above model perceives media information as “an all powerful
panacea for problems of human and socioeconomic development”. In this way
communication is primarily understood as transfer of information and so the
emphasis is on the effects. Communication is important in spreading awareness
of new possibilities and practices and should enable developers to bring about
an attitude change among the audience that in turn would lead them towards
developed and civilised society. Such a society was identified as a real
humanity according to modernity. In such a society media and communication for
Schramm[3]
should perform at least three functions which are ‘watchdogs, policy makers,
and teachers for change and modernisation. For McLuhan, any technology gradually
creates a totally new human environment and so the medium is the message.
Modernisation is understood as a process of
moving away from the traditional way of life towards a westernised or
modernised society which is supposed to be a developed way of life[4].
The communication technology becomes a means of communication to spread
awareness of new possibilities and practices that would bring about changes in
the communities. From the perspective of modernity the alternative humanity is
possible with the help of transfer of communication technology to spread the
new innovative concepts and thus to bring about changes in society. In this
sense alternative community means to become like a developed and modernised
country. The western countries are supposed to be developed countries and so
the alternative humanity would refer to being ‘westernised’. The changes are
brought from outside and the local culture and social structure are seen as
blockade for development or changes. The external changes are brought by
transferring capital, expertise and technology from the developed countries to
developing countries. In terms of information communication technology
modernisation means to promote awareness of innovative concepts through the
present computer technology or through other microprocessor units.
Such
a change in the society will be disaster because it will make sure that the
underdeveloped countries remain dependent on those developed countries in terms
of technology and expertise. Thus the underdeveloped country will remain
underdeveloped by depending on others and thus the causes of underdevelopment
remains external to the countries[5].
This creates a culture of dependency. Dependency perspective identifies the
problem of underdevelopment outside the developing nations.
Third
model that exists is the participatory model of development which stresses the
importance of cultural identity of local communities and of democratisation and
participation at all levels – international, local and individual. Listening to
what the others say, respecting the counterpart’s attitude, and having mutual
trust are needed. Participation involves the more equitable sharing of both
political and economic power, which often decreases the advantage of certain
groups [Servaes 1983:30]. The change involves the redistribution of power.
Development of social trust precedes task trust. There is a need for another
way of communication which favours multiplicity, smallness of scale, locality,
de-institutionalisation, interchange of sender-receiver roles and horizontality
of communication links at all levels of society[6].
In this process meanings are shared and exchanged rather than transmitted or
transferred from one person to the other. In Freirean approach the oppressed
should be treated as fully human subjects in any political process which
implies dialogical communication. The second UNESCO approach is about
self-management, access and participation. Access refers to the opportunities
available to the public to choose varied and relevant programs and to have a
means of feedback to transmit its reactions and demands to production
organisations. Participation includes involvement of the public in the
production process and also in the management and planning of communication
systems. Self management means that the public exercises the power of
decision-making within communication enterprises and is also fully involved in
the formulation of communication policies and plans.
The
technology as a medium can bring about changes in humanity in two or more ways.
It can bring about behavioural change, social engineering, productivity
increase and status quo stabilisation through a mass mediated vertical model or
self-expression, conscientization, emancipatory action, social and political
competence and structural change through a communicative participatory
horizontal model. Mass media usually prevent social interaction whereas small
community or group media usually instigate it. Without such interaction there
is no social change and without social change there is no alternative humanity.
The vertical mass mediated model failed to bring about development whereas
horizontal participatory model let the NGOs play a mediator or external agency
role. The decisions are often made for the people and the information is given
to the people. There is a need to bridge the gap between these two models.
Oepen[7]
argues that Community Communication (Com Com) can bridge the gap between these
two models. It is defined as a process of horizontal and vertical social interaction
and networking through media regularly produced, managed and controlled by or
in a close co-operation between people at the community level and at other
levels of society of countervailling powers. It accepts the role of small as
well as mass media in bringing about changes in the society while recognising
the difficulties. It also recognises the cultural diversity of development. The
community communication promotes long term structural change, allows
participatory instruments of project monitoring, narrows the gap between
different community media and identifies, analyses and tackles the realities
and problems of specific local groups.
Technology and Alternative
humanity:
In
the previous section I have argued that communication process can bring about
changes in a community and thereby establish a new humanity. Nevertheless I
highlighted the problems of modernisation and so in the mass mediated
communication and also in the participatory communication models. Communicating
towards a new humanity must involve an open holistic approach in the praxis.
The community at local, regional and national level needs to be strengthened
while changes should be brought about by the internal as well as external
factors. While the members of the community have equal chances in the decision
making process they also need to work towards the community’s growth.
Let
me identify the technological involvement in the process of bringing about
changes in society that will lead it to a new humanity. I will focus mainly on
the recent technology which is Information Communication Technology (ICT) which
is believed to have brought about changes in our society. Hamelink[8]
identifies two major perspectives in this area which are: Utopian (Optimistic)
and Dystopian (Pessimistic) perspectives. For him those who support Utopian
perspective highlight the positive development that is brought about by the
information technology. Those who support Dystopian perspective argue that the
ICT deployment will simply reinforce historical trends toward economic
disparities, inequality in political power and gaps between
knowledge-disfranchised.
Utopian Perspective:
This
perspective refers the present time as “ICE age”, “media saturated age”, “new
civilisation”, “information revolution”, “knowledge society” and “age of
infotainment”. It derives its image from a techno-centric perspective[9]
that is characterised by an emphasis on the historical discontinuity[10].
The information technology is seen as a process of bringing positive
developments in society which would bring new social values, will develop new
social relations and offer widespread access to the crucial resource. This
perspective predicts radical changes in economics[11],
politics[12]
and culture[13].
Hamelink notes that in a “Zero sum society” new social values will evolve, new
social relations will develop and wide spread access to the crucial resources
will be possible. All the traditional borderlines and barriers will disappear
in the new virtual communities. Those who support this perspective hold the
view that the technology has come to stay and can be used for good purposes of
human society. Many oppose such views and share a common ground which is
identified as Dystopian.
Dystopian perspective:
In
this perspective it is argued ICT deployment will simply reinforce historical
trends toward social-economic disparities, inequality in political power and
gaps between information rich (knowledge elites) and the information poor
(knowledge disfranchised). This perspective also predicts continuation and
changes in the present economic[14],
political[15]
and cultural[16]
systems. One has to understand that the technology creates dependency of the
developing nations on the developed nations. By denying access and dividing
people into ‘have’s and ‘have not’s such technology is seen as widening the
existing gap between the rich and the poor. Some Dystopians are Herbert I
Schiller, Ian Reinecke, Kevin Robins, Neil Postman and Mark Dery.
Both
perspectives have failed to recognise the fundamental impossibility of
foreseeing the future social and economic implications of technological
innovation. For Hamelink, it is not possible to predict future social impact of
any technology and so social choices about the future can be made under
conditions of uncertainty (p.6). Hamelink supports an approach focusing on
“social shaping of technology”. This approach emphasises the dynamic
interaction between social forces that shape technological development[17]
and technological innovations that affect social relations (which was
originally suggested by MacKenzie and Wajcman 1985). For him it is essential
for those who wish to influence the course of change in ICT, in directions that
might support social development, to understand what forces shape the evolution
of ICTs, and how these forces interact.
Third way?
Both
Utopian and Dystopian perspectives emphasise the role of ICT (means) or of the
developing organisation in bringing about development (communicator). I mean,
ICT is placed between a communicator and the audience and so becomes an
instrument for bringing about development of the people. In these two views the
main emphases are on how effectively the means (ICT) can be used to bring about
development among the people or how best the NGOs or the communicator use the means
(ICT) in order to develop the communities. These perspectives have an implicit
assumption that people do not have any idea to develop themselves nor posses
any innovative concepts to bring about social change. Thus the development has
to be brought by an external instrument or organisation. One should not try to
see ICT from a Scooby-Dooby-Doo Model where the cartoon characters Scoopy and
Doopy magically get their burgers by clicking the mouse in a computer. ICTs
cannot directly eliminate poverty or hunger. However it alone can not be blamed
for such social problems.
Social
problems such as poverty, starvation-deaths and water scarcity are part of our
everyday reality for many people in India. ICT is neither a cause nor can solve
this problem completely. The concept of development should not be narrowed down
only to economic development. People in India can not solve the above stated
problems unless there is a co-ordinated and organised effort. Population
explosion and less investment on people (much investment on missiles and
Nuclear arsenals), non-availability of resources, mass exploitation of wealth
by a few, natural disasters and conflicts and mismanagement are a few factors
that also contribute to problems such as poverty and starvation deaths. By
organising communities together and by bringing an awareness among them may
reduce to some extent these problems though these problems have to be addressed
at national and regional levels. ICT can play a major role in bringing people
together by establishing networks among the communities.
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Old
Model for Development and Means of Communication
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Proposed
Model for Development and ICT
ICT and development:
Any
development perspective, to be holistic and sustainable, to some extent, should
begin from the people, their understanding of development, their communication
process and their context. In this sense people are already engaged in a
communication process (by using different means that are available to them), in
a socio-cultural and political process (in order to develop themselves) and
thus in search for meanings of life and faith (that would enable them to bring
about social change and development among them). It is essential for the NGOs
and Communicators to find the ways to participate in such an ongoing process of
the people and thus become participants or catalysis in the people’s process of
development using the available modern technology. From this understanding
communication needs to be defined as a process in which the communicator (NGOs)
participates, shares and interacts with the audience (people)[18].
The role of those who wish to use ICT is to engage in those communities’
communication process in order to find a way to enable them to use ICT. Unless
audiences share such means of communication (ICT), the communicator cannot
communicate with the audience. Unless computers become their medium, people
cannot use it for their development and so our attempt to introduce ICTs would
become an attractive instrument but may not contribute to the process of
development. First those of us
who are interested in ICT and development need to identify the way in which the
ICT could become integral part of their communication practice and remain an
useful instrument for their daily purposes. We need to start enabling people to
use ICT as a platform where they can express their expectations and their
meanings etc. It is essential that we engage in people’s search for development
oriented meanings. We need to first recognise such meanings and use their means
of communication to disseminate among themselves. Using the ICT such meanings
can be disseminated not only among themselves but also to other communities
that are struggling with similar issues and problems. Our attempts should not
only be limited in brining a particular community together and developing them
but also networking communities together in order that they may share among
themselves their innovative ideas and help each other addressing their
problems.
Access:
While
encouraging people’s shared use of ICTs to bring about development, the cost
(of the technology, of its upgrading and of its maintenance) is one of the
major concerns. This raises the question of accessibility and availability of
the technology for the people to develop themselves. During one of the major
seminars at UTC, the MS Swaminathan’s Project (through which they study the use
of ICT for development of rural people) was presented. It was pointed out in
that report that rural mass could afford to pay for the maintenance cost of the
computers at a later stage of the project. People began to use these computers
in their own language at an affordable cost. In this sense it is possible to
enable the people to use ICT for their daily use as well as for the development
oriented programmes. My argument is that we need to recognise, and participate
first in people’s ongoing communication process using ICT. When people are seen
as participants in the developmental process we can participate along with them
in their search for development through the new technology.
Church, technology and Alternative Humanity
Christianity
is a religion of hope and expectations without loosing sight of the present.
The kingdom of God is both realised and expected to come in future. In this
sense eternal life is available to all here and now while its continuity is
there even after death. The life here and now becomes very important and a new
creation is possible on earth. The community values are very similar to the
kingdom values without loosing individual freedom. The expected alternative
humanity is what the Christianity proclaims as the Kingdom here and now. As the
church is involved in bringing changes in the present society to bring about
God’s kingdom here and now in its limited form, needs to consider seriously the
community communication in order to fulfil God’s mission on earth. The present
humanity lacks its vision in achieving its changes because of the failure of
modernisation and other reforms. It becomes the task of the churches as part of
their mission to carry out the transformation using the Information
Communication Technology to bring about changes in the society.
One
has to analyse what are the problems that an ICT as a technology brings to
people. It creates a dependency culture on the West and widens the gap between
information rich and information poor and thus creates a new gap between rich
and the poor. Regardless of these limitations the churches should explore the
ways in which ICT can be useful for the mentally retorted children, blind and
other marginalised people. Recently churches have established their websites
and provide information about their churches and activities. It is pity that
they use the website as an extension of their pulpit by providing their sermon
and order of service.
Our
churches can explore the possibilities of using ICT for the development of the
people who never had any chances of changing themselves. Many of the church schools have a large
number of computers which are not often used in the evenings. The church can
consider providing information and participation in and through her
websites. I have given below a few
models to be considered.
Alternative Media for Alternative Humanity
Why
do we call ICTs as Alternative media? During Shah’s time, small media such as
Komeni’s letters that were photocopied and distributed in Iran could bring a
big revolution. His tapes were copied and were distributed. In that context and
at that times such a small medium could bring a revolution against Shah’s
government. The whole world came to know about Tianneman Square only though
pictures via email attachments. Media’s role changes within a particular
context and at a particular time. I do not want to suggest that the alternative
media can replace the exiting means of communication that are shared by the
people. ICTs can play the role of an alternative media if they are accessible
and affordable to people and can be made available to their communities. This
is where a question arises whether we can make such technology available to
people in order to enable them to have access and to use it for their
developmental process.
ICTs
are alternative because they create a culture of interaction. People become
content makers. They can record a folk song and can easily place it in a web
page. People can broadcast on line or off line without many problems. They can
discuss problems and issues with other communities who are far away from them.
They can convert their innovative ideas and knowledge into money. It provides
multiple services. The context and people’s need could determine the services
that an ICT can provide in a particular place among a particular community. If
one type of service becomes irrelevant we can make use of other services. If the
NGOs can establish a network among themselves to share their own experiences of
ICT in the process of people’s development, then it is possible to widen such
network among people. Nevertheless we need to start both at the same time.
In
many of our Christian institutions, schools and colleges, we are offering
computer courses. Many students get their degree and are working within and
outside the country. We need to seriously think of training people not only to
get a degree in computer education and in terms of application of software of
industrial purposes, but also need to offer development related computer
courses along with the professional courses. For example how to produce a
software for networking of farmers etc. I suggest a few models which NGOs and
the developmental agencies can consider.
Web-cafe model:
Web-cafes
are popular in urban areas of India to much extent. Such web-cafes could be
made available in rural areas. One of the major constraints is that servers are
in city areas and so the phone lines often happen to work through STDs. But
most of the village areas are brought under local network and so such problems
in many places do not exist any more. Without providing some form of training
to the public such cafes may not become beneficial to the community as a whole.
It is essential to start with training the public and then to enable them to
have access to the government documents etc. Some computer literate person can
help people to have access to those pages that would be useful to them such as
market prices for their vegetables or for any other goods. People also could be
introduced to videophone through which they could speak to their own relatives
far and near. Such computers can also be fit with small recording rooms so that
people’s talks could be recorded and restored as data and history. For all
these people can pay a small amount for their use of computers and thereby
maintain the system.
Webcasting model:
Government
of India is allowing educational institutions to have their own local radio
stations. Private owners in India already operate FM stations. There is no
clear-cut policy by Indian Government about the webcasting. Internet Radio
stations could be made available from anywhere in the world except in India.
Recently Indian government has allowed the schools to start their own radio
stations for education and development of people. Such radio stations could be
combined with NGOs development scheme and webcasting radios in order to reach out to people while providing
a platform for the people to interact among themselves. By buying space in the
Web and by providing the content from India, NGOs will be able to operate such
stations from rural India. Indian Government should consider allowing
webcasting to be used by the developing organisations in order to bring people
together and share their information to each other. To do this one or two room
broadcasting centres could be developed in villages from where they can
communicate to different parts of the world. Only by networking and
popularising such radio stations the project will be successful. Such type of
webcasting should consider entertainment, educational, informative and
development oriented programmes. This could operate like some of the community
radio centres that are operating in India. Here the investment and operational
costs are comparatively cheap.
Multicasting model:
In
rural villages local Panchayat buildings have loud speakers and display of
notice boards. Local village radio stations are given licence by the government
if they are used for educational and developmental purposes. These means could
be networked with the Internet and Computer system in such a way that the
selected useful message could reach people and in turn people can also respond
to certain message among themselves. If the people can come together to the
computer centre, they can also communicate to other villages through the net. I
identified this as a multicasting model because ICT and other media could be
used together with different use of ICT in different areas. This would be
cheaper than other broadcasting or narrowcasting practices. This would be more
participatory and modifiable to suit the needs to the people.
These
are some of the models through which ICT could become part of people’s
communication process and thereby means for developing people in rural areas.
These models can become a sustainable model only when people’s participation in
the development programme provides some financial support. Because knowledge is
money such models can provide programmes that would generate money. Because
people in rural areas possess wisdom and knowledge ( such as natural medicine
or solving a communities problem), NGOs could sell such knowledge banks for
money through networking and thus make the programmes self-supportive.
In India Government controls the radio
and television stations. Though Cable television channels and newspapers enjoy
freedom, their main purpose has become making profit. That is why many of them
do not want to discuss the issues like poverty, starvation deaths and
exploitation. In such context this paper argues that ICT can play the role of
an alternative media. Alternative does not mean to replace the existing media
but a means through which people can communicate and share the certain meanings
of development among themselves. ICT can provide a public space at low cost in
which people from rural area can participate. ICT’s convergence technology
makes all those analogue methods of communication very easy and cheap to access
for the people.
ICTs
can be useful to bring about development of the people. If this development is
to be holistic and sustainable, ICT should become part of people’s
communication process and NGOs should only be participants in that process. Because
of its cheap technology and convergence, people can use it in multiple ways
according to their need. Development of people is possible if ICT could
disseminate information about people who can also receive it. This is possible
only by networking communities together which would certainly find a way for
themselves to live together by sharing their knowledge and resources among
themselves. This is where I take Utopian and Dystopian views further to find a
way where ICT could be used by the people to develop their communities.
Conclusion:
I
have highlighted a few issues in the area of communication, development and
community. I have argued that regardless of the limitation of Information
Communication Technology, it can be used as an alternative media to bring about
changes in the present society. While critically challenging the issues
involved in the transfer of technology, the churches should explore the
possible ways of using ICT for the sake of establishing the kingdom of God on
earth. It is not merely expanding the kingdom or Christianity as a religion but
serving people to realise and become new creatures in the kingdom. By enabling
people to participate, to develop themselves, to realise their potential, to
change their society, the churches can bridge the gap that is being established
by the same technology and media. Thus God’s mission will be carried out by the
churches on earth.
[1] E M
Rogers, Communication and Development,
Beverly Hills, 1986, p.49.
[2] R.
White, Contradictions in Contemporary Policies
for Democratic Communication, Paper to an IAMCR Conference, Paris,
September 1982, p.30.
[3] W
Schramm, Mass Media and National
Development. Standford, 1964, p.263.
[4] Jan
Servaes, Development Communication Approaches in an International Perspective’,
pp 24-39 in Manfred Oepen (ed) Media
Support and Development Communication in a World of Change. Berlin: Freie
Universitat, 1993.
[5] Jan
Servaes, Development Communication. Opcit p.26.
[6] D
McQuail, Mass Communication Theory,
London, 1983, p. 97.
[7] Manfred
Oepen, ‘Community Communication – The Missing Link between the Old and the New
Paradigm?’ in Oepen, Manfred, (Ed) Media
Support and Development Communication in a World of Change. B Berlin: Freie
Universitat, 1993.
[8] Cees Hamelink, “ICTs AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT:
THE GLOBAL POLICY CONTEXT”, Papers presented at the UNRISD Conference on
Information Technologies and Social Development. Geneva, 22-23 June 1998, http://www.unrisd.org/infotech/conferen/icts/toc.htm.
[9] In
this technocentric perspective the imperatives of technological development
determine social arrangements: technological potential drives history (e.g.
Zuboff 1988). It holds that the digital revolution definitively marks the passage
of world history into a post-industrial age. Those who support this perspective
argues that the emerging global information society is characterised by
positive features: there will be more effective health care, better education,
more information and diversity of culture. New digital technologies create more
choice for people in education, shopping, entertainment, news media and travel.
[10]
It is based upon the notion that a technological discontinuity (the “digital
revolution”) causes a social discontinuity (a “Third Wave civilisation -
Toffler 1980).
[11]In
the economy, ICTs will expand productivity and improve employment
opportunities; will upgrade the quality of work in many occupations and will
offer great many opportunities for small-scale, independent and decentralised
forms of production.
[12]
In politics, decentralised and increased access to unprecedented volumes of
information will improve the democratic process, and all people will ultimately
be empowered to participate in public decision-making.
[13] New and
creative lifestyles will emerge, as well as increased opportunities for
different cultures to meet and understand each other. New virtual communities
will be created that easily transcend all the traditional borderlines and
barriers of age, gender, race and religion.
[14] A
perpetuation of the capitalist mode of production, with a further refinement of
managerial control over the production processes which results massive job
displacement and de-skilling.
[15] A
pseudo-democracy will emerge, allowing people to participate in marginal
decisions only. ICTs will enable to
exercise surveillance over their citizens more effectively than before. The
proliferation of ICTs in the home will individualise information consumption to
a degree that makes the formation of a democratic, public opinion no more than
an illusion.
[16] There
are tendencies of forceful cultural “globalization” - e.g. Macdonaldization and
aggressive cultural tribalization - fragmentation of cultural communities into
fundamentalist cells with little or no understanding of different tribes.
[17] Among the
factors shaping ICTs are socio-economic, political, cultural, and gender
variables, geography and market forces.
[18] My
understanding of communication is developed from James Carey’s ritual view of
communication. Communication is defined as an ongoing process in which people
participate and interact in sharing, negotiating and constructing meanings
(social, cultural and religious).
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