The Digital Divide: Observations from the South About a Failed Dialog with the North

Abstract

We analyze how the Digital Divide turned into a discourse, reshaping but not resolving digital inequalities in the Global South, and revisit the situation of Latin America as an example of this phenomenon. We base our case on the application of the Center–Periphery Model and the Theory of Dependence to explain how digital technology turned into “soft power” with new forms of colonialism: electronic and cultural. With the aid of the concept of Digital Capital produced by Ragnedda (Telematics and Informatics, 35, 2366–2375, 2018), we describe the different divides developing in Latin America as a result of incomplete formation of offline capitals and the distorted evolution of Digital Capital. Many efforts introducing information and communications technology (ICT) became a mimic of the “Center.” We conclude with lesson to escape the Digital Divide as discourse, and reflect about the negative consequences of this phenomenon.