The Digital Divide, Epistemology and Global Justice Soraj Hongladarom Department of Philosophy Chulalongkorn University

Thesis statement Discussions of the normative aspects of the digital divide needs to pay attention to the fact that computer technology is a second- order device, thus making it necessary that cultures and epistemological considerations are involved.

The Digital Divide Many characterizations and dimensions of the digital divide –Disparities between groups What kind of groups? How much different - continuum of differences –What kind of problem is the digital divide? Many may choose to remain isolated Access to IT is a social good -what kind of good? How can we have ‘deliberative polling’ if certain groups are underrepresented?

DD and Global Justice The DD does not just happen within a country; one can certainly perceive a kind of DD among groups of countries - developed vs. developing/ First world vs. Third world, etc. This brings in issues in global justice Problem - what kind of authority is responsible? Are cultures involved, and if so how?

Normative Aspects The existence of the DD is a social ill that needs to be corrected. But the many dimensions of DD complicate the normative consideration. Moreover, the nature of IT in such a way that it’s second-order brings in epistemological considerations.

IT and older technologies One thing that distinguishes IT and older technologies such as the automobile or the toaster is that computers manipulate symbols, whereas the older ones manipulate concrete chunks of reality. Thus the use of IT is much connected with culture, since culture is often defined as the sum total of a group of humans’ symbolic symbolic and meaning-giving activities.

Role of Cultures Attempts to solve the global DD need to pay attention to cultures. Ways to solve the problem depend very much on cultures. Examples - what happened in Thailand a few years back.

What happened? In 1996, the Thai government distributed a large number of computers to schools nationwide, but it turned out that most of these were unused, or used not as effectively as was required to solve the problem. This seems to show that culture is a factor - for the Thai case - patriarchy, hierarchy at various levels What is particularly interesting is the role knowledge or attitudes toward knowledge play in all this.

Epistemology and epistemic culture In my 2002 paper, I argued that Alvin Goldman’s truth-based social epistemology needs to be supplemented by considerations of the fact that many cultures, such as the Thai one, do not put the highest value on truth as epistemic goal - the philosophical lesson being that the epistemology that puts highest value on truth is based on a particular kind of culture.

IT and epistemology Traditional Thai epistemic culture - what passes for ‘knowledge’ and ‘truth’ is what is certified by the authority The motivation for providing the computers to schools is primarily epistemic. But that happened within the predominant traditional epistemic culture. What happened was that the computers were viewed more as a symbol of becoming ‘modern’ rather than a tool for solving problems.

Practical implications 1.Attempts to bridge the DD need to take into account the fact that the technology is permeated by culture. This is especially so in the case of the global DD, for there cultural differences are the most striking. 2.The idea is neither to impose hardware and software on the people, nor to do nothing whatsoever. 3.The idea is to let the villagers see the potentials of IT by themselves so that the technology fits their agenda.