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This open access book critically examines discussions on digitalisation and individual opportunities for socio-economic advancement. Contrary to the prevailing narratives of "digital empowerment" and opportunities for every individual, this book argues that digitalisation massively curtails social advancement opportunities, consolidating existing social relations. From a spatial perspective, Scheffer demonstrates how socially disadvantaged groups are faced with reproducing mechanisms as part of a new data economy. Surprisingly, the more intensively digital services are used, the more this happens.
Building on Löw´s sociology of space and Bourdieu´s concept of habitus, this book shows how practices of social exclusion are transferred to the digital present in an innovative way. The image of "mirrored" spaces describes a new mechanism that explains social exclusion in the age of digitalisation. This book is an essential resource for researchers and students interestedin socio-economic inequalities, processes of digitalisation, and digital geographies.
List of contents
Introduction: Technological Competence and Social Change in a Spatial Perspective.- Stratification, Socialisation and Space.- Digital and Digitized Space as an Opportunity for Advancement.- Data-Based Utilisation Contexts.- Decontextualized data and socio-spatial differences.- Recursive Spaces.- Conclusion and Outlook.
About the author
Jörg Scheffer is Associate Professor in Human Geography at the University of Passau. His main research interests, in addition to digital geography and urban studies, are in social and cultural geography.
