In the late 1990s, optimistic scholars were convinced that digitalisation would help reduce the divide between developed and developing countries and foster democratisation processes. A few decades later, the digital divide is still remarkable, authoritarianism is on the rise and critical scholars are concerned that existing inequalities are reinforced by a new form of digital colonialism. In this course, we will closely study the development of Internet access and use in the Global South and resulting impacts on economic, political, and societal aspects. In the first section of the course, we will focus on access to the Internet in developing countries, exploring the different actors involved in setting up Internet infrastructure and discuss potential biases towards public and private actors based in the Global North. We will further review empirical work on the impact of Internet access on core developments such as democratisation. In the second section, we will focus on Internet use by both citizens and state actors in developing countries. In this section, we will review empirical literature on how citizens use the Internet to challenge their governments or foster innovations and how governments use the Internet to increase transparency or monitor civil unrest. Finally, we will do two lab sessions examining real-life data on Internet access and use. A key objective of the course is to provide students with a sound understanding of inequalities in the Internet’s infrastructure and resulting implications for access to and use of the Internet in developing countries. Based on the empirical studies we review, students will get an understanding of different conditions under which Internet access and use reduce or exacerbate existing inequalities. In addition, the course should foster students’ ability to critically evaluate empirical studies in the field.
This course is for 2nd year MIA, MPP and MDS students only.