Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Drawing on the author's ethnographic and textual analysis research over a five-year period in the United States, the paper observes that older generations of workers are getting used to the new models of technology-driven communication but may not feel "at home" in them. The author suggests steps for policy makers to stimulate and reward older workers, whose roles in the "new work" are both vital and threatened. Proceeding from data suggesting that work status often drives home computer and Internet competencies and usage in the lives of Americans over 50, the author acknowledges that the advancing age of Baby Boomers will cause some generational differences in competency and usage to disappear, but cultural differences among elders will persist. Effective public policy for curing the Digital Divide must include attention to older Americans on the margins, many of whom are single women, racial minorities, and residents of central-city or rural areas, the author claims. Recommendations include:
1. Tailor retirement systems for individual differences.
2. Make employment sectors elder friendly.
3. Make the educational system non-discriminatory.
4. Eliminate ageist practices inside the academy.
5. Strengthen policies to deter age discrimination by employers.
6. Encourage inclusive images of older workers.
7. Stop retrofitting facilities to "shoehorn" in disabled (often older) workers.
8. Encourage intergenerational learning communities.
9. Pursue age studies and intergenerational research.
The author concludes that citizens must assume a collective responsibility for re-creating social environments that will accommodate unprecedented complexities of intergenerational living in today's world.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study examines the causes and possible ramifications of the Digital Divide phenomenon in the Istrian County of the Republic of Croatia.The qualitative (ethnographic) approach to the Digital Divide phenomenon in the Istrian county in Croatia tries to give the new understanding of the inequalities in the digital world from the consumer’s point of view. The findings show that consumers are aware of the causes and the effects of the Digital Divide. At the same time, the same findings show the consumers are not necessarily eager to narrow the Digital Divide gap if they do not see the reason for going digital. This notion of “the un-willingness to progress” should be considered as an important criterion in the region of Central-Eastern Europe that is considered as economically moderately developed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: North-South divide is the divide which separates the rich North from the poor South. But today we find the digital divide in terms of 'information-rich' and 'information-poor' more prominent than the North-South divide. In knowledge-based and technology-driven economies the top 20-25% of the population, that is very well informed and interconnected at the global level through latest devices of information and communication , is in a position to reap all the economic and political advantages at the cost of the rest of the 75-80% of the population. Moreover, today we live in a world where the national and multinational, very rich and very poor, 'haves' and 'have nots' in terms of access to latest information and technology co-exist.My paper seeks to explore the prospects of the bridging of North-South divide by bridging the gap between digital divide. For instance, in future the consumers in China and India are likely to exercise more power through access to Internet than the consumers in some of the countries in the North. One thing certain about globalization process is that it has helped in transferring power from the nation state to global consumers, having far reaching consequences on the international relations where economic politics dominates political markets. The latest innovations in the information and communication technology have also helped in broadening the political base of power, on the one hand, and increasing public accountability to the grass roots, on the other. The political and economic hegemons face tough resistance from the women's groups, environmentalists, human right advocates and all those engaged in social and peace movements. The technology has gone a long way in empowering the marginalized sections of society worldwide. If it becomes more accessible, cost effective and fast, it can play an increasingly vital role in bridging not only the North-South divide but also digital divide.The methodology adopted is analytical, comparative and empirical.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper will be based on my forthcoming 2007 book, DEMOCRATIZING THE HEGEMONIC STATE: POLITICALTRANSFORMATIONS IN THE AGE OF IDENTITY (Cambridge University Press). In the book I offered ananalytical framework for studying relations between majorities and minorities in ethnically divided societies. In this paper I would like to take several cases in which societies were quite successful in "bridging" the ethnic divide (e.g. post-Franco Spain) and compare them with cases in which societies failed to do that (e.g. Sri Lanka) and identify systematically factors that might explain this difference.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Psychological research suggests that character is modular rather than consistent across time and space, and I argue that this has significant implications for debates over character education and the question of whether schools can teach some liberal values without totally making students over in liberalism’s image. I insist that schools can provide a substantive character education in liberal public values without completely displacing private worldviews, thanks to the modularity of character, which, among other things, suggests that the public-private divide is part of the human personality.