Thriving with digital disconnect: Jewish Ultra-Orthodox and Ethiopian immigrants communities realize their capabilities despite limited and indirect Internet use

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Abstract

Avoidance of Internet and communication technologies use by members of closed religious communities might result in deficient resources or skills and therefore be considered a disadvantage. However, as this study will demonstrate, limited access to the Internet by members of the Jewish Ultra-Orthodox and Ethiopian Immigrants communities can provide valuable social advantages at the individual, familial, and communal levels. The central goal of this study, based on Sen’s capabilities approach, is to determine the general and specific strategies used by the members of these closed religious communities to access information, thereby enabling the various community members to maximize their capabilities. The primary contribution of this study of fifty in-depth, semi-structured interviews (25 in each community) is a comparative investigation demonstrating that despite the disadvantages, the religious, cultural, and social capital strategies operating within social networks, provide agency and empowerment.

Author

• Rivka Neriya-Ben Shahar, Sapir Academic College