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

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

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 instigates 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. Please also add a short biography (+/- 250 
words, including role and affiliation).

Deadline for submission of abstracts for main conference and PhD 
workshop: 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).
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