Mobile Communication: Dimensions of Social Policy

In the few short decades since their commercial deployment, 5 billion people about three-quarters of all humanity, including children have become mobile phone users. No technology has even approached the mobile phone's wildfire success. Effects of this success are apparent everywhere, ranging from accident scenes and earthquake rescue efforts to demeanor in the classroom and at dinner tables. No one interested in the next generation of issues provoked by the mobile communication revolution will want to miss this important new collection of essays. The mobile phone has given near-transcendent power to ordinary people. All aspects of social life have been touched by mobile technology. An ever-growing host of tracking, immersion, gaming, and commercial applications are becoming available. The community of mobile communication scholars has blossomed from a handful of pioneers a decade ago to a large and dynamic intellectual community that spans the globe. Area researchers have gained much insight into cultural, symbolic, and social interaction aspects of mobile communication as well as its relevance to commerce. To address the social policy dimension of the mobile communication revolution, this volume presents analyses by leading thinkers in the field. The volume offers novel and keen insights into the topic. Subjects include the role of mobiles in policy formation and evaluation in several areas including the mobile-digital divide and political campaigns. Also explored are processes and policy implications of mobiles in creating or alleviating social problems including social isolation and family dispersion. Other chapters analyze social policies for mobile devices, including attempts to regulate the use of the technology and to understand and moderate its potential harm to human health. The contributors' scope ranges across five continents and they address concerns at local, national, and international levels.

Table of Contents:
1: Editor’s Introduction; 2: Overview: Surveying the Terrain; 3: Mobile Communication and Socio-Technical Change; 4: Sustainable Early Warning Systems: HazInfo Sri Lanka; 5: Mobile Communication and the Environment; 6: Mobile Phones’ Role following China’s 2008 Earthquake; 7: Social Networks and Policy Knowledge during the 2008 US Presidential Election; 8: Mobile-mediated Publics in South Africa’s 2009 Elections; 9: EMF Social Policy and Youth Mobile Phone Practices in Canada; 10: Mobile Communication Policies in the Workplace: The Case of U.S. State Governments; 11: ICT Use and Female Migrant Workers in Singapore; 12: Can You Take It with You? Mobility, ICTs and Work-Life Balance; 13: M-enabled Learning: The Mobile Phone’s Contribution to Education; 14: Lifeworld Keys and Intractable Objects: Privacy, Politics, and Mobile Symbolic Meanings in Italy; 15: Mobile Political Campaigns: The Nexus of Mass Content and Private Consumption; 16: Disability, Mobiles, and Social Policy: New Modes of Communication and Governance; 17: Social Participation and Mobile Communication; 18: Technological Rabbits and Communication Turtles; 19: Conclusion