Sociology and Criminology
Digital Activism and Citizenship in Datafied Societies
Module code: L3131A
Level 6
15 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Seminar
Assessment modes: Essay
On this module, you’ll use the idea of digital citizenship to address:
- how citizens today use digital technologies to support social justice
- how digital networks have changed social movements
- whether online activism leads to real change or simply a form of slacktivism
- if it reinforces neoliberal forms of power.
Digital citizenship is empowerment through digital action, including how people assert their identities in relation to the state. This also includes how rights are changing, and how everyday citizenship is informal, performative and participatory.
You’ll explore the key topics, perspectives and debates in digital citizenship. You’ll also assess whether digital action can support democracy, while considering forces that undermine it, such as:
- data collection
- surveillance capitalism
- information gatekeeping
- networked authoritarianism.
Module learning outcomes
- Develop a critical awareness of the different ways in which citizenship has been conceptualised within sociological scholarship.
- Demonstrate knowledge and a critical appreciation of competing theories and empirical research on digital citizenship.
- Demonstrate the ability to apply theories of digital citizenship to contemporary empirical cases across local, national and transnational levels.
- Identify and critically evaluate the cultural, political and economic challenges facing expressions of digital citizenship today.