[Commlist] CfA Conference "Practices of Digital In- and exclusion in Everyday Life"

Conference CfA
*Practices of Digital In- and exclusion in Everyday Life*

University of Groningen, the Netherlands

Date: April 3-4, 2023
Submission Deadline: February 15, 2023 via https://bit.ly/3XxinO5 
<https://bit.ly/3XxinO5>

This conference considers citizens’ everyday experiences of digital in- 
and exclusion. It focuses on the practices and tactics they employ in 
everyday life. Governments, employers, schools and other institutions 
increasingly expect people to participate digitally; yet, even in 
digitally advanced countries where internet access is almost ubiquitous, 
large groups of citizens lack basic digital literacies. This conference 
focuses on the practices and tactics through which citizens deal with 
the increasing digitalization of their everyday life. Going beyond who 
is left behind or what skills or knowledge are lacking, it explicitly
takes a user-centric approach to understand the impact of digital in- 
and exclusion from the perspective of citizens themselves.

Over the past decades, scholars from various academic disciplines have 
researched digital inclusion, from sociological, post-colonial, gender, 
socio-economic, political, technical and many other scientific 
paradigms. This has led to a broad range of conceptual frameworks for 
digital literacies, as well as theoretical explorations of the various 
‘new’ literacies that are necessary for participation in digital 
societies. What still remains relatively unexplored is how citizens 
experience digital inclusion and exclusion, and the tactics and 
practices they employ to participate. In this conference we seek to gain 
insight into the social, civic and political implications of digital in- 
and/or exclusion in people’s everyday life.

How do citizens develop and translate digital literacies into media 
practices across the lifespan?
How do citizens navigate gaps in digital literacies within the various 
realms of everyday life?
And what are the implications of digital exclusion for everyday 
practices of digital citizenship?

This conference aims to gain an in-depth understanding of how citizens 
of various socioeconomic backgrounds, ages and with different levels of 
education develop digital literacies throughout their lives, and under 
what circumstances these become valuable for their participation and 
inclusion. Such an user-centric approach helps to advance knowledge 
about how digital literacies are developed from a young age, the various 
social contexts in which these processes take place, and how such 
knowledge is appropriated, shaped and employed within informal and 
formal everyday practices and settings. Moreover,
emphasizing the development of digital literacies as a situated social 
practice, gives insights into the social contexts through which people 
develop digital literacy practices, how they construct and integrate 
social norms around technologies, and the links between digital 
literacies and (digital) citizenship.

As concerns about digital in- and exclusion grow, this conference 
invites papers that collectively help us to gain insight into the impact 
of digital in- and exclusion in everyday life settings, to ultimately 
foster digital inclusion both through academic research and through 
practical interventions. Specifically, we welcome studies and research 
projects that focus on issues and themes such as:
- Practices and tactics of digital inclusion, digital exclusion,digital 
participation and/or digital literacy;
- Lived experiences and understandings of digital literacies;
- Differences between developing (digital/media) literacies in formal 
and informal learning spaces;
- Studying everyday experiences surrounding digital inclusion in 
different contexts;
- Conceptual tools for studying digital inclusion/exclusion in everyday 
life;
- Methodological challenges of researching digital inclusion and/or 
digital literacies in everyday life;
- Everyday uses and/or educational approaches to various literacies and 
participation;
- And other topics closely related to user-centric perspectives, digital 
inclusion and everyday-life practices and tactics.

Abstracts (maximum 500 words) are invited for consideration as 
contributions to the main conference program through this application 
form: https://bit.ly/3XxinO5 <https://bit.ly/3XxinO5>. Please also add a 
short biography (+/- 250 words, including role and affiliation).

Deadline for submission of abstracts: February 15, 2023. Notification of 
accepted papers will be given in late February.
Conference fee: € 125 (incl. lunches, refreshments and conference dinner)

A selection of the papers will be published in a special issue of Media 
and Communication

This conference is organized in the context of the NWO supported 
research project “Informed Citizenship for All: Digital Literacy as 
Prerequisite for an Inclusive Society” (2020-2024; PI prof. Marcel 
Broersma). It is also related to projects the Digital Inclusion Lab of 
the University of Groningen does with 19 social stakeholders within the 
Digital Literacy Coalition (digital-literacy.nl 
<http://digital-literacy.nl>).

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