Social informatics and the political economy of communications

Abstract

Purpose

There is a need to understand both theoretically and empirically the dominant guiding principles that are becoming embedded in people's technologically mediated interactions and what the alternatives may be. Aims to provide an evaluation of the work of Rob Kling in helping to find guidance on these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper combines narrative with argument and analysis.

Findings

How people communicate in different organisational contexts is informed by the way meanings are created (in this study, contractual understandings to supply material goods) and how various processes can be made to work in both offline and online environments. The results of this study illustrate one of Rob Kling's dictums: the social context of information and communication technologies (ICT) development matters.

Originality/value

Provides a contribution to the literature on Kling's work on social informatics.

Citation

Mansell, R. (2005), "Social informatics and the political economy of communications", Information Technology & People, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 21-25. https://doi.org/10.1108/09593840510584603