ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to socially contextualize the rise of the digital divide and the advent of digital inequalities by examining the evolution of research in this area from the first stage to the third. The term 'digital divide' emerged to describe inequalities in access to the technologies of the so-called information society. The digital divide first gained prominence as a policy issue thanks to reports released by the United State (US) Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The chapter then discusses the rise of the digital divide as a social and public concern, going beyond questions of technological infrastructure and economic issues. The telephone approach mainly focuses on the cost and diffusion of technologies, reducing the phenomenon of the digital divide to a technological and economic issue. The chapter concludes by highlighting some of the difficulties and challenges that those wishing to analyse the digital divide from a multidimensional perspective might encounter.
