Digital Transformation and Social Stratification: A Sociological Analysis of Digital Divide in Contemporary Society
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70062/icsshi.v2i1.61Keywords:
Digital Capital, Digital Divide, Digital Sociology, Social Inequality, Social Stratification, Technology and SocietyAbstract
The rapid advancement of digital technology has fundamentally transformed social structures, creating new forms of inequality and social stratification. The digital divide has emerged as a critical sociological phenomenon that reflects and reinforces existing social hierarchies while creating new patterns of inclusion and exclusion. This study examines the relationship between digital transformation and social stratification, analyzing how digital access, literacy, and participation contribute to contemporary forms of social inequality. The research investigates the mechanisms through which digital divides reproduce and transform traditional class structures. This sociological inquiry employs a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative survey data from 500 households across different socioeconomic strata with qualitative ethnographic observations and in-depth interviews with 40 participants. The study utilizes Pierre Bourdieu's theory of capital and Anthony Giddens' structuration theory as analytical frameworks. The findings reveal three distinct digital classes: the "digitally privileged" (25%), "digitally struggling" (45%), and "digitally excluded" (30%). Digital capital significantly correlates with traditional forms of capital (economic, cultural, and social), creating compound advantages for privileged groups. The study demonstrates that digital transformation both reinforces existing inequalities and creates new forms of social differentiation. Digital transformation has become a new dimension of social stratification that intersects with traditional inequality patterns. The digital divide represents not merely a technological gap but a fundamental social divide that requires comprehensive sociological understanding and policy intervention to ensure equitable social development.
Downloads
References
Beaunoyer, E., Dupéré, S., & Guitton, M. J. (2020). COVID-19 and digital inequalities: Reciprocal impacts and mitigation strategies. Computers in Human Behavior, 111, 106424.
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (pp. 241-258). Greenwood.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
Castells, M. (2015). Networks of outrage and hope: Social movements in the Internet age. Polity Press.
DiMaggio, P., Hargittai, E., Celeste, C., & Shafer, S. (2004). Digital inequality: From unequal access to differentiated use. In K. Neckerman (Ed.), Social inequality (pp. 355-400). Russell Sage Foundation.
Durkheim, E. (1893). The division of labor in society. Free Press.
Fuchs, C. (2014). Digital labour and Karl Marx. Routledge.
Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society: Outline of the theory of structuration. University of California Press.
Hargittai, E. (2010). Digital na(t)ives? Variation in internet skills and uses among members of the "net generation." Sociological Inquiry, 80(1), 92-113.
Jenkins, H., Purushotma, R., Weigel, M., Clinton, K., & Robison, A. J. (2009). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. MIT Press.
Lutz, C. (2019). Digital inequalities in the age of artificial intelligence and big data. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 1(2), 141-148.
Norris, P. (2001). Digital divide: Civic engagement, information poverty, and the Internet worldwide. Cambridge University Press.
Ragnedda, M. (2017). The third digital divide: A Weberian approach to digital inequalities. Routledge.
Robinson, L., Cotten, S. R., Ono, H., Quan-Haase, A., Mesch, G., Chen, W., ... & Stern, M. J. (2015). Digital inequalities and why they matter. Information, Communication & Society, 18(5), 569-582.
Scheerder, A., van Deursen, A., & van Dijk, J. (2017). Determinants of Internet skills, uses and outcomes. A systematic review of the second-and third-level digital divide. Telematics and Informatics, 34(8), 1607-1624.
Selwyn, N. (2004). Reconsidering political and popular understandings of the digital divide. New Media & Society, 6(3), 341-362.
Van Deursen, A. J., & Van Dijk, J. A. (2019). The first-level digital divide shifts from inequalities in physical access to inequalities in material access. New Media & Society, 21(2), 354-375.
Van Dijk, J. (2020). The digital divide. Polity Press.
Weber, M. (1978). Economy and society: An outline of interpretive sociology. University of California Press.
Zillien, N., & Hargittai, E. (2009). Digital distinction: Status-specific types of internet usage. Social Science Quarterly, 90(2), 274-291.
