On becoming citizens: examining social inclusion from an information perspective

Abstract

Increasing participation in social, economic, and community life is considered to be one of the defining principles of an inclusive society and a key aspiration for the Australian Federal Government. Central to this principle is the ability to build the capacity of individuals and groups to develop connectedness, and to engage in decision-making. Participation such as this improves individual well-being and the well-being and prosperity of the communities in which individuals learn, work and play. A prerequisite for participation, inclusion, and informed citizenship is the ability to develop knowledge from information about the social, economic, and community dimensions through which modern Australian society is constituted. While the concept of social inclusion is broad and extends to all sectors of the Australian community, this paper focuses on a particular sector of Australian society – new arrivals, termed settlers¹

¹ The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has specific definitions for the terms migrant, refugee, and resident . Technically a migrant is defined as a person who was born overseas and has obtained permanent Australian resident status prior to or after their arrival. A permanent resident is defined as a person who was born overseas and has obtained permanent Australian resident status prior to or after their arrival. A refugee is a person who is subject to persecution in their home country and who is in need of resettlement. In other publications, the ABS uses the term “settler” to apply to all these categories and we follow their precedent for this paper

- and explores the concepts of social inclusion and exclusion and information poverty. It then describes research currently under development which will examine how settlers reconcile their own cultural information practices and understandings about information with their experiences in their adopted country.

Introduction

Enabling the participation of citizens in social, economic, and community life is considered to be one of the defining principles of an inclusive society and a key aspiration for the Australian Federal Government (Vinson, 2009). A key aspect of this principle is the ability to build the capacity of individuals to develop connectedness and to engage with decision making that improves the well being and prosperity of the communities in which they learn, work, and play. Central to the overall principle of inclusion is the ability for people to live well and to participate in the running of their communities and the development of government policy, contributing to the social capital of their communities and countries. This paper examines the concepts of social inclusion and the role of information in social inclusion processes in an Australian context.

Inclusion requires a collaborative approach, with communities and service providers working together. To participate in informed and productive ways people require access to information and to the technologies used to access, disseminate, and use information. They also require access to training that will motivate and enable them to develop the ability to understand how information is produced, how it is disseminated, and how it can be accessed through their immediate communities and through society in general. To achieve this collaboration, service providers need to develop a clear understanding of the range of information practices employed by various groups within their community, in order to ensure that information is effectively communicated, reducing the risk of exclusion.

A prerequisite for informed citizenship is knowledge about the social, economic, and community dimensions through which modern Australian society is constituted. Settlers, particularly new arrivals, need to acquire information and knowledge about their new country and their specific communities in order to engage with everyday living issues such as health, employment, and education. Many settlers may come to Australia from countries in conflict, where their education has been interrupted, where communication is in languages other than English, and where their culture and other environmental factors may be vastly different to those they encounter in their new country (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008). Without information and other mechanisms to ensure that newcomers are adequately informed about their newly adopted society, these groups may be at greater risk of being at the margin of the democratic process or of feeling isolated and lacking opportunities and choice (Caidi & Allard, 2005).

The acquisition of this knowledge could be enhanced on the one hand by the development of information practices and technological competencies through information literacy programs for settlers, and on the other hand by increasing the understanding of information service providers about the needs and requirements of different settler groups. These programs, designed to foster a critical and evaluative approach to information and the infrastructures by which information is delivered, would provide valuable additions to existing formal networks. A first step in this development is to gain a clear understanding of how settlers encounter information in their adopted countries and second, how they reconcile this encounter with their own cultural understandings of information provision.

While the concept of social inclusion is broad and extends to all sectors of the Australian community, this project focuses on a particular sector of Australian society – settlers who, while still largely concentrated in metropolitan areas, are also now becoming increasingly visible in rural and regional Australia as concentrated diasporas. The proposed research will focus on rural and regional diasporas, as a need has been identified by both the information providers and the settler groups themselves. Further, it is proposed to address issues relating to social inclusion and information poverty which may specifically arise due to the rural and regional location.

To explore social inclusion from an information perspective, the proposed research will examine the information experiences and information practices of settler groups in regional Australia. The aims of this research are to better understand how settlers might engage and learn about the Australian information landscape. The research will also consider how this experience influences and affects participation with the cultural, social, and economic dimensions which shape Australian life and enable settlers to become informed citizens.

Social exclusion

To determine what is meant by social inclusion it is necessary to understand what is meant by social exclusion as the two concepts are closely related and considered to be part of the same dimension (Hayes et al., 2008). A difficulty with the concept of social exclusion is that no single definition is universally accepted. Three main themes have been identified in the literature by Atkinson and Hills (1998), which indicate that social exclusion can be seen in terms of the norms and expectations of a society (relativity); is caused through agency, whereby exclusion may be an individual choice or a group decision; or may be due to an individual’s current circumstances. Social exclusion is defined by Silver and Miller (2003,3.) as a ‘relational process of declining participation, solidarity, and access’. Pierson (2002, 2) suggests that ‘social exclusion focuses more on social relations’ and the extent to which people are able to ‘participate in social affairs and attain power to influence decisions that affect them’.

Emphasising the multi-dimensional nature of the process of exclusion, which impacts not only the individual but also the whole of society, Levitas, Pantazis, Famhy, Gordon, Lloyd, and Patsios (2007, 9) consider social exclusion as the ‘denial of resources, rights, goods and services.’ A number of researchers emphasize the social consequences of exclusion in terms of deprivation and alienation from local communities and from wider society. In his review of the literature on inclusion and exclusion Vinson (2009) indicates that while many definitions exist, a set of common elements are present in each. He goes on to note that all definitions include a ‘lack of connectedness’, and reflect ‘the many sided nature of exclusion as well as the fact the social and physical environments in which people live are implicated’. The risks of exclusion for individuals are identified as; ‘limited support networks, inability to access the labour market, alienation from society and poorer educational outcomes’ which can lead to further risk of disenfranchisement for individuals (Vinson 2009, 7). As a ‘whole of community issue’ Warschauer (2002) suggests that social exclusion hurts not only those who are excluded but also the broader community and the economy.

Social exclusion is a process, and developing a clear understanding of the causes that enable or constrain this process is important (Hayes, 2008). The Australian Government in its recent report Social inclusion; A compendium of social inclusion indicators (Australia. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Social Inclusion Board, 2009) highlights the forces which shape social exclusion, with each of these forces being seen in terms of the information problem that directly affects the capacity for people to participate in society. Poverty and low income may mean that some people face the lack of financial capacity to own a computer, or to purchase high speed broadband, significantly restricting and limiting access to an extensive and expanding range of online resources and assistance, now available in Australia through the various e-government and e-participation initiatives at all levels. This is particularly significant where locality (for example rural or remote locations) and connectivity may be an issue.

Barriers to the labour market, including work-related information skills, also reinforce exclusion. Work related information skills vary from ‘soft skills’ (such the ability to use information critically and in culturally appropriate ways to solve problems, to engage in teamwork or to develop knowledge about the organisation and flow of information within a workplace) as well as hard skills (such as the ability to use a computer and the Internet). These issues may be related to the education which settlers were able to access before and after their arrival in Australia.

According to Vinson (2009) limited social networks may result in ‘network poverty’ resulting in limited access to informal sources of information related to job-seeking opportunities, education, health or well-being. The overall alienation from local community networks and wider society can result when information is not easily accessible by the individual, or when the individual lacks the critical skills to evaluate it, or in situations where more powerful figures act as mediators.

Social exclusion as an information problem

There is much discussion (Pierson, 2002; Silver & Miller, 2003; Vinson, 2009) in the inclusion/exclusion debate about resources. However, the most fundamental resource, information, and the information practices and related skills that enable people to access, critically evaluate, and use information (information literacy), are rarely mentioned. In Australia and elsewhere, social inclusion and exclusion as an information problem has not been the focus of sustained research. Caidi and Allard (2005), who have studied this issue in Canada, suggest that a lack of access to information creates barriers that prohibit full participation in education, work, and every life. This may result in those without access to information becoming increasingly excluded from mainstream information sources and subsequently failing to develop the capacity to fully integrate and participate in society as full citizens. Thus Caidi and Allard conceptualise social exclusion as an information problem. Settlers, they propose, in particular, face substantial information problems, in the first instance relating to the navigation of information related to basic needs such as housing, employment, education and health. The sub-group of settlers who are refugees may face additional problems related to trust arising from trauma in the circumstances of their departure from their former country.

Continuing social exclusion will leave settlers at greater risk of remaining on the margins of society, excluded from participation in democratic processes, lacking opportunity for advancement in education and employment and feeling a lack of inclusion in the broader community. Thus the ability to access information is critical to social inclusion. Caidi & Allard (2005, 304) suggest that currently very little is known about ‘the ways newcomers and longer established immigrant communities locate and access content in forms that are understandable and useable to them’. Further, little is known about ‘their attitudes, values, awareness of and skills in utilizing various information institutions and related technologies’ (p.304). They therefore suggest that settlers may experience information poverty, which contributes to their social exclusion.

Information poverty

People’s inability to develop effective information practices which enable access to quality information can result in information poverty. The information poor constitute a class that is shaped by economic and social exclusion (Chatman, 1996, 1999) and whose knowledge is generated at the ‘periphery of society’. Feminist and critical theorists argue that what one knows emerges from their social location (Mohanty, 2003; Narayan, 2004). Therefore, members who are located outside the mainstream of society often have different understandings of the society and the world that they inhabit (Caidi & Allard, 2005). The idea of information poverty is closely related to social exclusion. Limited information access and associated information skills in turn limit the capacity of individuals to fully participate in society and to make informed decisions. Over time this reduced capacity can effect the ability to extend social networks, to gain employment, maintain health, and improve educationally, thus creating a cycle of alienation from mainstream society and continued marginalisation and disenfranchisement of sectors of the community.

The idea of information poverty has been notable in the LIS literature since the 1970’s, with later discussion, eg. Thompson (2007), relating it specifically to information literacy. The concept has been associated with economic hardship, which reduces access to modern ICT (information and communication technology), and to a lack of education and training to facilitate use. This has lead to the recognition that a digital divide exists. According to the Caslon Analytics (2007) report, the Digital Divides, the divide is not a singular concept but must be understood in terms of differential access to computers, the Internet, telecommunications, and information resulting in unequal access to knowledge, training, and resources .According to this report, in Australia, the profile of the information poor relates to ‘…those on low incomes, without tertiary education, living in rural/remote areas, of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders heritage, with disabilities, with a language background other than English, and aged over 55’.

Cultural behaviour which creates barriers to accessing information by limiting social participation can also result in information poverty. Research by Childers and Post (1975) produced a tripartite approach to understanding an information poor lifestyle, whereby information poverty could be understood in terms of low information processing skills; sub-cultural limitations, where the information poor feel excluded from mainstream society, leading to the creation of closed subsystems; and, personal attitudes in relation to authorised agency such as government departments. Their research indicated that the information poor could be identified as having poor information processing skills, which may be the product of low literacy, language and communication skills. Physical barriers including location and economic capacity may also influence the ability to process information. While information infrastructure and technologies may be readily available, a lack of information literacy and information processing skills, coupled with limited technical competency related to information technology, can result in anxiety about understanding how to evaluate information accessed through a variety of sources, producing an inability or limited capacity to make effective decisions.

These limitations are evident in the findings of Palmer, Lemoh, Tham, Hakim and Biggs (2009) who studied HIV/AIDS information seeking behaviours of Sudanese women living in Victoria. Their study concluded that for this group lack of access to information was due to socio-cultural barriers to information seeking (which may also be conceptualised as cultural information illiteracy), inadequate sources of information, the timing of dissemination, and a lack of culturally appropriate information. The women in this study reported that verbal and visual sources of information were preferred and information delivery was more successful when disseminated in culturally appropriate ways by highly respected members of their community. In Australia (as elsewhere), there is a need to understand how the attributes of the social network of new settlers affects their ability to find and interpret information, resolve problems, or deal with everyday situations which might arise in their adopted country.

Social exclusion forces the information poor, such as settlers, to rely more heavily on their social networks. These networks can then sometimes act as gatekeepers, delivering, amending, or withholding important information, and in this way creating power relationships which may inhibit the potential flow of information. The role of social networks and their influence on information poverty has also been explored and framed through the research of Chatman (1996), who examined the insider /outsider networks. This theoretical framework is relevant to a discussion on the problematising of inclusion and exclusion from an information perspective. Earlier, Merton (1972), working from a sociological perspective, suggested that those who are excluded from membership of a network or a society also have restricted access to a wider range of information that is privileged through membership. While Goffman (1959) argued that group membership can result in less contact with the wider community, leading to problems with integration and consequently broader access to information. Therefore, exclusion from the mainstream may result in inclusion within a specific group which in turn may limit the amount and type of information available. This is suggested by Chatman (1996, 1999) when she states that ‘our membership within a particular social group contributes to information poverty’.

Relationship between information literacy, information poverty and exclusion

There is a strong relationship between information literacy, information poverty and social exclusion and this relationship has been recognized by UNESCO in statements related to the role of information literacy (Garner, 2006). Information literacy has a capacity to ‘empower people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goals. It is a basic human right in a digital world and promotes social inclusion…’ (Garner, p.3). Information literacy is a social and situated practice and is defined in this research as a way of knowing an information landscape, by developing practices and skills that will enable an individual to critically interrogate and analyse the source from which information is accessed, in addition to the information itself, and to recognize this practice as catalyst for learning (Lloyd, 2006).

In analysing information, the information user takes into account how and why information is provided, considers the discourse that surrounds information production and provision, and the process by which information and knowledge are sanctioned within the particular setting (Lloyd, 2005). Information literate people can be characterised as those who are enriched, enabled and engaged with their information environments (Lloyd, 2006). The practice of information literacy is closely aligned to learning in formal and informal contexts. Information literacy acts as a catalyst for learning (Bruce, Edwards, & Lupton, 2007; Lloyd, 2005).

In the 21st century, information is represented and made available through many media and access is no longer confined to book, pamphlet, or other print based objects. Consequently, the range of possible information sources which settlers may draw from presents particular problems, especially when these sources may conflict with cultural values and ways of knowing (Palmer et al., 2009).

A central premise of the information literacy concept is the empowerment of learners to make informed decisions and to take informed action through the critical and reflective use of information regardless of the format. Falling under the umbrella term of information literacy are a number of other literacies through which the information literacy concept has been conceptualised. These ‘literacy’ areas have been recognized by Australian government agencies (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006) and focus on specific content or tool aspects of information literacy. These are: health literacy, which includes the knowledge and skills required to understand and use information related to health issues; prose literacy related to the ability to understand and use information from various kinds of narrative texts, including newspapers, magazines and brochures; document literacy which measures the knowledge and skills required to locate and use information contained in various formats including tables and charts; and digital literacy, the ability to locate, understand, and evaluate information from computers. This last facility is increasingly important as Australian governments and agencies provide information and services over the internet and increasingly shift the focus from the simple provision of information to an expectation of more active participation from users (Cecez-Kecmanovic, Kennan, Hull, & Nagm, 2009).

A role for information agencies in addressing social exclusion and information poverty

As the concepts of social exclusion and information poverty become better understood, it becomes increasingly clear that information service providers and information literacy skills can provide the potential for people to move from being information poor and socially excluded to information literate and socially included. There is a potential role for libraries and other information service providers in addressing social exclusion and information poverty.

Accordingly this proposed project will involve libraries and information agencies working with the researchers and settler communities to identify ways of understanding their information experience and practices - working together to develop information and information literacies that will be both culturally sensitive and designed to promote social inclusion.

An important focus of the proposed project is the relationship between social networks as sources of information and the impact of these relationships on the transition of settler groups into community life. In this aspect of the research, the aim is to develop an understanding of the role that social networks play in the mediation of access to information and the relationship between this role and the social and cultural contexts of the information practices of newcomer settlers. Newcomers may have differing social network structures (in terms of size, density, and strength of network ties) from members of their general community to which they connected, and from those they encounter in their adopted country. These differing network structures may influence how information is accessed and used, which in turn, may impact on their transition to their newly adopted society (Caidi & Allard 2005, 305).

A review of the library and information science literature indicates that there is a small and slowly evolving body of research (Allen, Matthew & Boland, 2004; Caidi & Allard, 2005; Pyati, Chu, Fisher, Srinivasan, Caidi, Allard, Dechief, 2008; Srinivasan & Pyati, 2007) in relation to exclusion and inclusion, and the contribution that libraries and other information agencies may make to the development and empowerment of settlers as informed and included citizens. Where research has been undertaken, the literature indicates a need to address options for information access, provision, and information literacy education in culturally appropriate ways, which acknowledges cultural difference in the provision of information. A study of Hmong populations in the US (Allen et al., 2004) concluded that western understandings of information provision through the Internet, did not reflect the migrant population’s understanding of how information should be provided or could be accessed. This finding is particularly relevant for regional and rural libraries, and other information providers in Australia who continue to support settlers past the period of their initial arrival, in areas such as health, employment, education, and general aspects related to everyday living.

Consequently, it is important for libraries and other information agencies to work collaboratively with each other and with settler communities to develop a clear understanding of the information related issues faced by settlers in their transition into the community and wider society.

Research in progress

The research project for which preliminary work on literature analysis and team building has commenced, will begin in earnest in 2010 to explore the formal and informal information experiences, and information issues faced by newly arrived and longer standing settlers to regional locations, as they begin to engage and participate in the community, educational, and workplace spheres of their adopted communities. The study will explore how migrant information practices are formed and reconciled against their pre-existing cultural information related practices as a result of these experiences. As their information experiences are relational to the services provided to this group, the study also aims to identify how stakeholders such as libraries and local, state, and federal government agencies and information providers understand the migrant information experience and how they interpret these experiences in the production and provision of information.

The proposed research aims to involve settler participants, information providers, researchers, and community members working together to 1) understand the information experiences and practices of settlers; 2) compare this understanding with those of service providers; and 3) develop a framework that can be used by the library and other services providers in the development of community based information programs aimed at settlers. Such programs will need to recognise inclusion and exclusion principles, and take into account information literacy and adult learning principles and different ways of knowing and accessing information. An emphasis of this dialogic approach is on understanding how people from culturally diverse backgrounds interact and experience the Australian information landscape (for example at the federal, state, and local levels); how they develop information practices within the context of their integration into new community groups; and how they reconcile these practices with their own cultural understandings about information provision and dissemination.

To achieve the aims of this research, the project will be conducted in three phases. In the first phase, a steering committee will be formed. This committee, including members from the local community, will oversee the life of the project. In phase two, Settler group (SG) and Stakeholders group (SH) members will be interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. In phase three, two focus groups (one for each of the SG and SH groups) will be held to discuss the analysis of phase two. At the conclusion of phase three, the steering committee and participants will be invited to evaluate the developed framework, workshop, research process, and outcomes.

Active participation in the research by the information service providers and representatives of settler communities is essential for achieving the objectives of this research. These are the arguments for the adoption of a participatory action research (PAR) approach which involves researchers, settlers, and information agencies, in both the doing of the research and the learning arising from the research (Kemmis & McTaggart, 2005). This approach exemplifies the view of research as social practice that focuses on and improves practice and generates knowledge.

Conclusions

This paper defines the terms social inclusion, social exclusion, information poverty, and information literacy. It establishes links between these concepts and proposes research that will explore the formal and informal information experiences and information issues faced by newly arrived and long term settlers to regional locations, as they learn to engage and participate in the community, educational and workplace spheres of their adopted communities.

While the main focus of the study is to increase the understanding of the information needs of settler communities for information and service providers, it will also aim to develop an understanding of ways for information providers to provide information in culturally appropriate ways. An additional aim is to develop a theoretical framework that will provide insight into, and understanding about, information practices of settlers that will enable information service providers and community educators to better meet settler information needs.

This study is potentially significant as it differs in a number of respects from previous studies in settler information use. Thus the use of an information practice perspective is novel in the LIS field, where the majority of studies conducted in this area have focussed on individual information use and information behaviour or information seeking from an individual user perspective. The proposed study differs because it will consider the socio-cultural, material-economic, and historical dimensions which influence and shape this information experience. By broadening the focus of enquiry to explore settlers’ information experience from a practice perspective, the study also focuses on how this group reconciles their cultural understandings of information against the provision of information in their adopted country. Finally, the study will adopt a dialogic approach that sees stakeholders as part of this experience. It therefore seeks to explore understanding of settlers’ information practices and how this understanding translates into information production, dissemination, and use practices.

Notes

¹ The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has specific definitions for the terms migrant, refugee, and resident . Technically a migrant is defined as a person who was born overseas and has obtained permanent Australian resident status prior to or after their arrival. A permanent resident is defined as a person who was born overseas and has obtained permanent Australian resident status prior to or after their arrival. A refugee is a person who is subject to persecution in their home country and who is in need of resettlement. In other publications, the ABS uses the term “settler” to apply to all these categories and we follow their precedent for this paper