Digital-Environmental Poverty

This book analyzes and understands the complexity of digital poverty by considering its intersecting nature with socioeconomic and environmental poverty. The rapid digital acceleration that has characterized contemporary society in recent decades, notably accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has profoundly reshaped societal structures and dynamics. Our direction depends on how we integrate digital technologies into social structures, utilize them for environmental protection, and master their use rather than being passive consumers. Digital Environmental Poverty is split into three sections. Section I explores the multidimensional nature of poverty, emphasizing the necessity to view it beyond economic terms, and placing it within the contemporary digital-environmental evolution. Section II focuses on the environmental dimension of poverty. Section III offers case studies illustrating the interplay between social, digital, and environmental poverty. The conclusion provides recommendations to anticipate and mitigate the risk of digital environmental poverty. Maria Laura Ruiu is an Assistant Professor in Sociology at Northumbria University (UK). Her research interests are environmental and media sociology with a specific focus on environmental communication, social capital and digital media. Massimo Ragnedda is Associate Professor in Media and Communication at Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK where he researches the digital divide and social media.