Social stratification of IT skills. Reduction or reproduction of social inequalities?

Abstract

This paper revolves around questions whether the advent of global Web has challenged social stratification. Contrary to many utopian claims it is argued that technology is embedded in existing social cleavages and relations of power, rather than contributing to redressing them. This problem, called ‘digital divide’ has evolved from a simple distinction between users and non-users to more refined understandings including inequalities, also among Internet users themselves. Informed by Bourdieu’s theory of capital, the paper analyses the data collected on the Internet activities of Wrocław inhabitants. The findings suggest that even if the basic Internet access is
controlled, the socioeconomic status (and class position) is an important predictor of how people incorporate the Web into their everyday lives. As has been shown, those from more privileged backgrounds use it in a more ‘capital-enhancing’ way. Two main Internet orientations have been identified: informational-utilitarian and communicational-recreational, both correlated with social position markers such as class, cultural and economic capital. This all leads to the conclusion that technology can never be detached from its place in a social and cultural context.