Digital inequality as a systemic phenomenon: mechanisms of digital stratification and opportunity traps

Abstract

The article is devoted to the theoretical conceptualization of digital inequality as a derivative manifestation of digitalstratification and to the identification of the mechanisms through which it is reproduced under conditions of globaldigital transformations. The purpose of the article is to reveal digital inequality as the result of a hierarchical distributionof control over digital resources, the rules governing their use, and the channels of appropriation of digital gains, as wellas to systematize the mechanisms through which these hierarchies are transformed into stable and cumulative differencesin access, practices of use, and outcomes of digital inclusion.