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Social work advocacy critical to address digital divide as social justice issue, authors say
LAWRENCE — A University of Kansas professor is co-author of a new article that argues broadband access is a human rights issue and social justice matter as marginalized communities are left behind in the digital divide. Edward Scanlon wrote that the field of social work needs to become more involved in pushing for expanded broadband access for all, and he offered resources and advocacy tips for those on the front lines of the issue.
Positive effect of self-interest examined in ‘A Theory of Prudence’
LAWRENCE — A University of Kansas professor’s new book, “A Theory of Prudence,” argues that prudence is an important aspect of decision-making and one that needs to be taken more seriously. Dale Dorsey said it’s the first contemporary work to treat prudential metaethics, value and normativity together. It’s published by Oxford University Press.
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Contact: Mike Krings, KU News Service, 785-864-8860, [email protected], @MikeKrings
Social work advocacy critical to address digital divide as social justice issue, authors say
LAWRENCE — A University of Kansas professor is co-author of a new article that argues broadband access is a human rights issue and social justice matter as marginalized communities are left behind in the digital divide.
The United Nations General Assembly declared access to the internet a basic human right in 2016. As such, the field of social work needs to become more involved in pushing for expanded broadband access for all, and policymakers should take on efforts to ensure access is capable for all communities. Edward Scanlon, associate professor of social welfare at KU, made those arguments and shared resources and advocacy tips on the front lines of the issue in an article published in the Journal of Human Rights and Social Work. The study is co-written by Cynthia Sanders of the University of Utah.
“The digital divide is more than just access to high-speed broadband,” Scanlon said. “That part is very important, obviously, but there is also the issue of people simply having a device to access the internet. A third piece has to do with digital literacy and understanding what it means to get online. It’s no longer considered a luxury. It’s now basically considered a utility.”
The digital divide is not just a policy or infrastructure issue. It is a social justice matter in that lack of access disproportionately affects people of color, low-income individuals and families, and those who live in rural areas, the authors wrote, and at the intersection of all of those are Native communities. Scanlon noted that tribal entities in the U.S. are often disadvantaged in this way and shared the example of the Potawatomi Nation, which resides in a Kansas county where more than 40% of the population lacks access to high-speed internet.
“The pandemic has made this issue even more pressing for telehealth and education reasons. Many students struggled to have the ability to do their schoolwork and gain access to access education during the pandemic,” Scanlon said.
The matter is also a social justice issue in that people are less able to get vital information, news or connect with others without broadband. It can also limit peoples’ ability to get adequate education, connect with health care providers, work, apply for jobs, pay bills or receive benefits such as social welfare and other services considered basic human rights in the 21st century, the authors wrote.
There are efforts underway to address the digital divide. Perhaps the best example is California’s Internet for All Now Act, which passed in 2017. The act formed a public-private partnership in which the state authorized hundreds of millions to be allocated to help private companies expand internet access to nearly every part of the state.
“We highlighted that because it’s a few years older than a lot of efforts, and it allocated $330 million,” Scanlon said. “The sheer amount and goal of getting 98% of every geographic area of the state covered is significant.”
Scanlon also pointed to Kansas’ formation of the Office of Broadband Development, recently formed to expand access throughout the state. The office’s work has helped take Kansas from the 40th to 28th most connected state, he added. But, while the numbers look good in many areas, there are still some areas where as many as 40% of residents don’t have adequate access.
Such public-private partnerships as in California’s case are politically expedient as they appeal to conservatives’ wishes to avoid the government taking over expansion efforts and progressive desires to avoid the enrichment of private companies at public expense, the authors wrote.
The authors also argued the field of social work has a role to play in closing the digital divide as well. Just as the field has advocated for and served low-income, marginalized and underrepresented communities in terms of child care, health care access, mental health and other areas, they should focus on the digital divide as a serious social justice issue. It’s especially timely as social work services move online like so many other services.
“If you’re going to deliver social services via telehealth, you have to be sure people have access to broadband,” Scanlon said. “Social workers need to advocate like they do for mental health, issues of race, fighting poverty and those traditional causes.”
Scanlon and Sanders shared resources, links to online toolkits, recommendations for talking to policymakers and tips for advocacy groups in the paper.
“Social workers can help amplify the voices of those working on these issues. Almost every community has a broadband access advocacy group. Sometimes they’re centered around universities, or libraries, or even business groups. But we argue social workers need to step out of their typical comfort zones and work on these issues with them,” Scanlon said. “One thing social workers are really good at is listening to people tell their stories and helping share them with those in power. We want to help them share the struggles of those with limited access with policymakers.”
The problem would be best addressed with a consistent national strategy, similar to those taken during the New Deal era to electrify even the most remote parts of the country, the authors wrote, but until then, state and local efforts can learn from success stories.
“This really is a problem that’s national in nature and needs to be seen as part of infrastructure, just like utilities and bridges and roads,” Scanlon said. “While we don’t have that yet, we think we can see best practices from states and local efforts replicated widely.”
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Contact: Jon Niccum, KU News Service, 785-864-7633, [email protected]
Positive effect of self-interest examined in ‘A Theory of Prudence’
LAWRENCE — We are often judged by how we treat others. But what about how we treat ourselves?
“I don’t think the term ‘self-interest’ should have the negative connotation that it frequently does,” said Dale Dorsey, a professor of philosophy at the University of Kansas.
“We don’t want people to be selfish, focusing only on themselves or to a greater extent than other people in a hyperinflated way. But we do need to think about our own interests. When I advise students about what major to choose, I’m advising them in part to consider what makes them happy, what would give them a better life.”
His new book, “A Theory of Prudence,” argues that prudence is an important aspect of decision-making and one that needs to be taken more seriously. Dorsey said it’s the first contemporary work to treat prudential metaethics, value and normativity together. It’s published by Oxford University Press.
“This theory involves how we should treat ourselves, in particular how we should treat ourselves at different times of life. We may have very different goals, aims and desires as life goes on. The book tries to address how we ought to respond to those changes,” he said.
Dorsey recognized that the term prudence is often misunderstood.
“People think of prudence as this Victorian-era virtue similar to temperance, where you’re not supposed to experience anything like pleasure,” he said. “You envision people wearing buttoned-up collars and wagging their fingers at others. In philosophy, that’s not what we mean by prudence.”
Dorsey said that to be prudent is to treat yourself well — just as to be moral is to treat others well. So the question becomes what are the demands of prudence? What makes your life better or worse over time?
“I examine how you characterize the value of a life and promote it to the best extent, knowing you’re only living a certain tiny bit of it in the moment,” he said.
For example, Dorsey jokingly referred to himself as a “former hardcore punk rocker.” Back then, he thought he’d rather die than drive a minivan with a couple of kids riding in back.
“How should I now, as the minivan driver with two kids, respond to these desires that I used to have?” he asked.
“I can remember that punk-rock self and think, ‘I was really misguided.’ Yet ignoring your past self is a kind of hypocrisy because right now you’re sincerely hoping that your future self doesn’t ignore your current one. You’re planning in advance. You want to have a good career and financial stability. All that stuff relies on your future self doing things that are responsive to your current wants and needs. So if you’re just going to say to your past self, ‘Go jump off a cliff,’ then why wouldn’t your future self say that to you?”
Individuals often take the future into consideration, as when saving for retirement, visiting the dentist or not getting drunk at night if needing to be at work early the next morning. The question emerges whether to treat the future with the same significance as the present.
“Imagine if some psychic comes to me and tells me how my future self is going to be completely different than I am, want things that I don’t, do things I don’t like,” Dorsey said. “Should I try to undermine my future self? Should I pursue things now that I don’t believe in for the sake of my future self, even though I consider that future self misguided? These seem like weird questions, but they actually come up all the time, whether you’re contemplating having children or a potential career change.”
Could this mean we are at a point in society where self-interest is at an all-time high? Dorsey does not think so.
“Plenty of people have been really self-interested over the course of time, and it’s only recently when our communication with others in the world has expanded,” he said.
“It used to be that we could only communicate with like 10 other people — travel was hard, interaction was hard. The difference between acting morally and acting self-interestedly wasn’t that big a gap. Now when our actions have such a wide reverberation, people are actually responding more to the interests of others.”
A KU faculty member since 2008, Dorsey has also chaired the philosophy department for the past five years. The Kansas native’s research focuses on ethics, with books that include “The Limits of Moral Authority” (Oxford University Press, 2016) and “The Basic Minimum: A Welfarist Approach” (Cambridge University Press, 2012).
He said he hoped “A Theory of Prudence” helps everyone see how acknowledging your self-interest isn’t always just a matter of doing what you want to in the moment.
“This involves careful consideration of what you value, what your future self values and what your past self has valued,” Dorsey said. “Acting in your own interest is very complicated and requires a lot of rational reflection.”
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