Internet and Society in Latin America and the Caribbean

From the Publisher
"The research contained in this book is designed to foster discussion about the policies and actions that must be promoted for building an Internet culture in Latin America and the Caribbean, based on the principles of social and cultural equity.

This book presents some research work designed to show, from a qualitative and ethnographic perspective, how New Information and Communication Technologies, as applied to the school system and to local governance initiatives, merely reproduce traditional pedagogical approaches and the dominant forms by which power is exercised at the local level.

The studies thus constitute points of departure for further thinking about the need to promote an Internet culture based on the social application of a 'right to communication and culture' and an 'Internet right', that will permit the establishment of true citizen participation and free access to knowledge, with due regard to personal and individual rights such as those of privacy and intimacy.

The book also includes the results of development work on two information tools: the first is designed to facilitate mediation of the Internet's social impacts, and the second to develop a citizen habitus among children."

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction

• The Internet and its impact on Latin American and Caribbean society: Research and dialogue

The Internet, Culture and Education

• Navigators and castaways in cyberspace: Psychosocial experience and cultural practices in school children's Internet
• Introducing new information and communication technologies in two rural schools of central Chile: An ethnographic approximation
• Learning from the pioneers: Best practices as exemplified in the TELAR network by Paula Pérez, Adriana Vilela, Daniel Light and Micaela Manso

The Social Impact of the Internet at the Local Level

• The social impact of introducing ICTs in local government and public services: Case studies in Buenos Aires and Montevideo
• The social impact of information and communication technologies at the local level
• The Internet and local governance: Towards the creation of a community habitus
• Measuring qualitative and quantitative impacts: Design and implementation of online registration systems for telecentres using Linux platforms

The Internet, Rights and Society

• The impact of new information and communication technologies on privacy rights
• Copyright and the Internet

Public Policy and the Internet

• Towards a model of franchises for community telecentres in Latin America
• The Internet and socially relevant public policies: Why, how and what to advocate?
• The social impacts of ICTs in Latin America and the Caribbean: The MISTICA virtual community and the OLISTICA observation network
• Introductory notes for the analysis of ICT policies in Latin America and the Caribbean

Conclusion

• Creating synergy between research on the social impact of ICTs and political action for equitable development

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