[Commlist] CfP: Special Issue of New Media & Society: Digital Inclusion of Vulnerable People: Factors, Significance, Intersectionality, and Policy Challenges

*CALL FOR PAPERS*

**

*Special Issue of /New Media & Society/: ‘Digital Inclusion of 
Vulnerable People: Factors, Significance, Intersectionality, and Policy 
Challenges’*

Over the last three decades, researchers have increasingly understood 
the existence of multiple and complex digital inequalities that vary in 
breadth and depth and involve evolving nuances, assigning a 
multi-faceted nature to digital inclusion and flagging up a complex 
terrain of hurdles to it (Blank and Groselj, 2014; Borg and Smith, 2018; 
Brandtzæg et al., 2011; Katz and Gonzalez, 2016; Mubarak, 2015; Tsatsou, 
2011; 2012; 2017; van Deursen et al., 2011;  van Deursen and van Dijk, 
2014; Witte and Mannon, 2010).

It is widely acknowledged that barriers to digital inclusion are 
connected with social exclusion and associated social capital and social 
stratification trends (Clayton and McDonald, 2013) and that those 
vulnerable and at high risk of social exclusion are also those in 
greatest need of digital inclusion (e.g., Acharya, 2016; Alam and Imran, 
2015; Chadwick, Wesson and Fullwood, 2013; Fisher et al., 2014; Helsper 
and Eynon, 2010; Menger, Morris and Salis, 2016, Seale et al. 2015, 
Tsatsou, Youngs and Watt, 2017). Vulnerability,  namely the 
‘susceptibility to physical or emotional injury or attack’ (Ståsett, 
2007, p. 51), is not a new concept and, while we ought to acknowledge 
that all humans and populations are potentially subject to conditions of 
vulnerability, there are some groups, which persistently face conditions 
of vulnerability, such as ethnic minorities/refugees, elderly, people 
with disabilities, homeless people, one-parent households, unemployed 
people, Gypsy-travelers, and others. To shed light on vulnerability in 
the context of the forces and significance of digital inclusion, 
intersectionality is a key notion. Coined by Crenshaw (1989) in feminist 
and gender studies, the notion of intersectionality points to 
interlocking systems of power and oppression and how they impact those 
most marginalized in society, acknowledging the multidimensionality of 
people’s experiences, namely the ‘intersectional experience’ (p. 140) 
within and outside the digital realm.

This special issue seeks to offer broad and case-specific, theoretical 
and empirical accounts that shed light on major dimensions, complexities 
and intersectionality patterns in the digital inclusion of those who 
find themselves at the margins of social inclusion and most vulnerable 
to existing and emerging societal challenges. In this sense, this issue 
aims to constitute a timely and diverse collection of studies of 
vulnerable people’s digital inclusion that will present original 
insights into the factors, significance, intersectionality patterns, and 
policymaking challenges concerning the digital inclusion of those who 
are vulnerable in socio-demographic, economic, geographic, political or 
other terms.

We invite papers that focus on one or more vulnerable populations and/or 
contexts and either offer an overarching (conceptual or empirical) 
account or delve into a specific case study. Suitable papers will make a 
distinct contribution to the exploration of the status and role of 
digital technologies in the lives of vulnerable population groups or 
communities in today’s society, drawing expertise and insight from the 
fields of digital media studies, social computing, community 
informatics, information systems, sociology, social psychology, and 
cultural studies.  In light of the current COVID19 pandemic, in 
particular, we invite papers that examine questions of factors, 
significance, intersectionality or policy challenges in the context of 
the pandemic and in consideration of today’s heightened necessities for 
and dependencies on digital inclusion, especially for those most vulnerable.

Hence, the themes addressed in this issue include, but are not limited to:

·Theorising vulnerable people’s digital inclusion.

·Vulnerability in the context of digital inclusion.

·Current state of vulnerable people’s digital inclusion and associated 
trends and developments.

·Value of intersectionality for the study of vulnerable people’s digital 
inclusion.

·Empirical insights into patterns of intersectionality among different 
vulnerable populations’ digital inclusion.

·Continuing or emerging factors influencing vulnerable people’s digital 
inclusion.

·Significance of digital inclusion for vulnerable people’s social 
inclusion and wellbeing.

·Research lessons and insights for policymaking on vulnerable people’s 
digital inclusion.

·Emerging or new necessities for and lessons on vulnerable people’s 
digital inclusion in the context of the COVID19 pandemic.

*Special Issue Editor / Correspondence*: Panayiota Tsatsou 
((pt133 /at/ le.ac.uk) <mailto:(pt133 /at/ le.ac.uk)>)

*Important dates*:

Submission of abstracts (500 words): 22 May 2020.

Notification of decision on abstracts: 22 June 2020

Submission of full papers:  31 August 2020

Notification of peer review outcome: 30 October 2020

Submission of final papers: 1 December 2020

*Instructions for authors*: Abstracts must be submitted to 
(pt133 /at/ le.ac.uk) <mailto:(pt133 /at/ le.ac.uk)>. Abstracts should not exceed the 
limit of 500 words (word limit excludes author details and list of 
references).


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