Społeczeństwa sieci a zróżnicowanie kulturowe. Socjologiczna analiza relacji
Network Societies and Cultural Diversity. A Sociological Analysis

Author(s): Anna Śliz, Marek S. Szczepański
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Communication studies, Sociology
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: identity; multiculturalism; cultural diversity; network society
Summary/Abstract: The contemporary world can be characterized by the gradual increase in cultural diversity, which results from a variety of global processes. The shrinking of time and space brought together groups of people who represent a multitude of sometimes distant cultures. This cultural diversity is incorporated into the fabric of societies which operate at different levels of cultural development, including network societies. Thus, the aim of the following article is to present the relationship between cultural diversity and network society. In the first decades of the 21st century, our civilization experienced a huge technological revolution which led to an increase in the flow and volume of the transmitted information on a scale never seen before, and which influenced the means of data transmission. This process was aided primarily by the development of mobile phone technology as well as the Internet. This rapid technological change, in turn, gave rise to the network society: a society saturated withand increasingly dependent on technology. This society has been completely dominated by the computer and the Internet, while production, experience, and power constitute the pillars of its existence. On the other hand, a culturally diverse society is a society that includes various groups which represent different culture, and one that upholds and expresses the values of those cultures. When it comes to cultural diversity, it could be argues that the network society allows to come into contact with different cultures without the necessity of unmediated access. We come to know them via the Internet. We could, therefore, assume that living in the network society allows us to experience different cultures, while at the same time facilitates negative phenomena, such as verbal abuse or discrimination.

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