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Rural life and internet accessibility: A partnership of exclusion?Lorraine FianderPage 1 ¦ Page 2 ¦ Page 3 ¦ Page 4 ¦ Printer-friendly version ABSTRACT Social exclusion is an issue that focuses mainly on conspicuous urban issues: homelessness, crime, poverty and lack of access to services are visible and 'real'. The 'green and pleasant land' of rural Britain is seldom associated with social exclusion. An important factor within social exclusion is that of a lack of access to the Internet, as e-citizenship is as fundamental a part of rural life as urban living. This paper examines the factors contributing to rural social exclusion, including lack of adequate transport and limited access, highlighted by a snapshot example of a rural and an urban area in West Yorkshire: the result of a small, comparative research project. 1. IntroductionSocial exclusion is still a priority issue within most government agendas. Generally associated with poverty, social exclusion and inclusion are in fact associated with more than money. [1] Transport, access to services, cultural difference, lack of education and motivation should also be considered when designing policies to enable social inclusion. 'Social exclusion is a multidimensional, dynamic concept, which emphasises the processes of change through which individuals or groups are excluded from the mainstream of society and their life chances reduced' [2] Viewing social exclusion as an access issue focuses on the processes by which people are excluded rather than only examining the causes of poverty [3] Within this framework, it can be seen that it is not only the poor who are socially excluded. A lack of access to facilities, whether physical, mental or financial, can be as exclusionary as the experience of poverty [4]. 'Today, the concept of social exclusion is taking over from poverty, which is more static than dynamic and seen far more often as, exclusively, monetary poverty... Social exclusion does not only mean insufficient income, and it even goes beyond participation in working life... More generally, in stressing the rupture of the social link, it suggests something more than social inequality and therefore carries within it the risk of a multi-tier society, or the relegation to the status of the welfare dependent.' [5] However, social inclusion policies for urban areas focus on different factors than those designed for rural areas. While it is accepted that poverty may not be as acute in rural areas and the population density in those areas is smaller, access to full membership of society, including e-citizenship, is just as pertinent an issue to those living in rural areas as those in towns and cities, although often affected by different factors. In a rural setting, access to services and communications are often key causes of social exclusion. Government action to provide all public information on the Internet by 2005 may cause further exclusion, especially to those in rural areas, through lack of access to the Internet. In conjunction with more general rural exclusion this may further impact on the lives of people already isolated. In order to illustrate the problems of e-citizenship and rural living, a small, comparative research project will be discussed. This was carried out between two areas within the Kirklees Metropolitan Council area in West Yorkshire: Paddock, an urban area, and Holmfirth, a rural area. 2. Social exclusion and rural areasIn 1999, The UK government's Social Exclusion Unit published a report entitled 'Bringing Britain Together'. The strategy focuses on community involvement, local partnerships and neighbourhood management, using 18 Policy Action Teams. The Single Regeneration Budget and the New Deal for Communities also show government commitment to addressing the problems experienced by the most socially excluded and degenerated neighbourhoods [6]. These three policies all deal with urban deprivation. Rural degeneration is not seen to be as marked, nor are the residents found to be as poor. The persistent myth of the rural idyll, perhaps less readily accepted after the 2001 Foot and Mouth crisis, still leads some to believe that those who live in England's 'green and pleasant land' are mutually supporting and self-sufficient, thus in less need of government support. Policies which aim to tackle social exclusion need to reflect these different circumstances. It should not be assumed that urban solutions will work in a rural context [7]. Cox [8] states that '20% of the rural population of England and 25% of the rural households live in absolute poverty (on an income of less than 140% of supplementary benefit entitlement)'. Remote rural dwellers were found to be more disadvantaged than accessible rural dwellers, with average and top incomes in accessible areas being markedly higher than in remote rural areas [9]. By examining rural social exclusion it can be seen that there are distinct features that distinguish it from urban social exclusion. Access to affordable food, banking and communications are issues that affect both areas, but urban deprivation often includes poorer housing, greater poverty and incidence of homelessness. Rural social exclusion can include lack of access to employment opportunities, communications, adequate public transport and technology [10]. The combination of these issues can compound social exclusion in a different way for people living in remote rural areas. Footnotes1. See also McAleavy, G., Donegan, T. and O'Hagan, C. 2004, 'The Digital Learning Divide - responding to the access needs of citizens', Tangentium 1/2. return 2. Philip, L. and Shucksmith, M. 1999. 'Conceptualising social exclusion', European Society for Rural Sociology XVIII Congress, Lund, Sweden, August 1999. return 3. Alcock, P. 1997. Understanding Poverty, Macmillan, London. return 4. Lavalette, M. and Pratt, A. 1998. Social policy: a conceptual and theoretical introduction, London, Sage, p. 186. return 5. Robbins, cited in Alcock, op. cit., p.96. return 6. http://www.detr.gov.uk return 7. http://www.countryside.gov.uk/EssentialServices/Social_Inclusion/intro.asp return 8. Cox, J. 1998. 'Poverty in Rural Areas', British Medical Journal 316, pp. 722-730. return 9. Harrop, A., Kenaway, P. and Palmer, G. 2000. Indicators of Poverty and Exclusion in Rural England, New Policy Institute, London. return 10. Philip and Shucksmith, op. cit. return | |