The Pennsylvania State University宾西法尼大学

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1、ThePennsylvaniaStateUniversityTheGraduateSchoolCollegeofCommunicationsTHEPOLITICALECONOMYOFTHEDIGITALDIVIDEINTAIWANAThesisinMassCommunicationsbyChen-LingHung©2004Chen-LingHungSubmittedinPartialFulfillmentoftheRequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophyMay2004ThethesisofChen-LingHung

2、wasreviewedandapproved*bythefollowing:RonaldV.BettigAssociateProfessorofCommunicationsThesisAdvisorChairofCommitteeDennisDavisProfessorofCommunicationsRichardTaylorProfessorofCommunicationsChrisBennerAssistantProfessorofGeographyJohnNicholsProfessorofCommunicationsAssociateDeanforRes

3、earchandGraduateProgramsinMassCommunications*SignaturesareonfileintheGraduateSchooliiiABSTRACTThisstudyutilizesapolitical-economicperspectivetoanalyzethedigitaldivide.Thisapproachcorrectstheideologicalbiasofneo-liberalresearchonthedigitaldivideanditsinsufficiencyoftheoreticalfoundati

4、onandprovidesaframeworkforpolitical-economicscholarstosystematicallyexplorethisissue.Political-economictheoryisusefulforexaminingthedigitaldivideforitprovidesaholisticanalysisofexistingrelationshipsamongwealth,powerandknowledge.Thistheoryprovidesacriticalperspectiveontheoperationofca

5、pitalism,arguingthatthenatureanddevelopmentofcapitalismissignifiedbytheconcentrationofwealthandpowerinthehandsofafewpeoplewhodominatepolicymakingandthedistributionofresources,includingnewtechnologyandinformation,thusstrengtheningexistingdisparities.Thestudyemploysfourentrypointsinclu

6、dinghistory,ownership,accessandpolicytoanalyzethedigitaldividefromaglobalperspectivewhilefocusingonthecaseofTaiwan.ItsfindingssuggestthatInternetdevelopmentinTaiwanisfollowingsimilarpatternsandexhibitingmanyofthesamecharacteristicsfoundatthegloballevel,includingtheroleofthestateandco

7、rporationsectorincommercializingtheInternet.ThecommercializationoftheInternethasinspiredatrendtowardconcentrationofownershipinInternet-relatedindustrieswhichincludemedia,telecommunicationsandinformationtechnology.ThisstudyalsofindsdisparitiesinInternetuseareflectionofexistingsocialin

8、equalityinte