ICT to Disempower? A Perspective on ICT as Postmodern Agent

David F. Nel University of Pretoria, South Africa

Jan H. Kroeze University of South Africa, South Africa

Hugo H. Lotriet University of South Africa, South Africa

Abstract
The wholesale implementation of Information Technology (IT) has brought with it a host of unintended and unforeseen consequences. Through a literature review and an examination of both Postmodernism and IT, it is proposed that the influences of IT have acted and continued to act to promote Postmodernism. These influences amongst others include displacement of space and time, its promotion of the Information Society, its ability to create digital hyper-realities, its destructive influence on tradition and culture, and most of all its revolutionary impact on the identity. Through these influences this reflective paper seeks to demonstrate that the agency of IT (unintentionally) supports a Postmodern deconstructed societal structure.

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Reference:	Nel, D.F., Kroeze, J.H., Lotriet, H.H. (2010). "ICT to Disempower? A Perspective on ICT as Postmodern Agent," . Sprouts: Working Papers on Information Systems, 10(171). http://sprouts.aisnet.org/10-171
Keywords:	Postmodernity, IT, identity, culture
Item Type:	Article - Volume 10 Article 171 (2010)
Language:	English
Email:	David F. Nel (davidfnel@gmail.com) Jan H. Kroeze (kroezjh@unisa.ac.za) Hugo H. Lotriet (lotrihh@unisa.ac.za)
Related Link(s):	http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-07032008-130105/
Additional Information:	Suggested reference: NEL, D.F., KROEZE, J.H. & LOTRIET, H. 2010. ICT to disempower? A perspective on ICT as postmodern agent (full paper). Proceedings of the 14th International Business Information Management Association Conference (14th IBIMA), 23 - 24 June 2010, Istanbul, Turkey, pp. 1382 - 1393. (Business Transformation through Innovation and Knowledge Management: An Academic Perspective, edited by Khalid S. Soliman. On CD: ISBN: 978-0-9821489-3-8).

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