Digital Capabilities

This book is a unique exploration of communities in positions of inequality in Israel and the West Bank, the opportunities they have to communicate, and the way information and communication technologies serve their desire to do so. The contributions address a variety of communities - Palestinian-Israelis, Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank, ultra-Orthodox Jewish women, Jewish-Ethiopian immigrants, Jewish-Indian 'Bnei Menashe' immigrants, Bedouins in the Negev, and African asylum seeker - utilizing a variety of ICTS: mass media, social networking applications, mobile applications and digital games. The volume reveals the vital role that ICTs can play in enabling freedoms and opportunities for marginalized communities in the contemporary digital and mediated society.

The book presents an overview of Israeli society and its marginalized groups, the theoretical framework, and the implementation of the capabilities approach to media studies. The ten empirical case studies demonstrate how a variety of marginalized communities in Israel and the West Bank share their hopes, experiences, and tribulations in their daily attempt to utilize information and communications technologies for the realization of their capabilities to communicate, be informed, develop individual and communal identities, and voice their concerns.