Review article
Digital Literacies and Civic Literacies: Theoretical Issues, Research Questions and Methodological Approaches
Giovanna Mascheroni
orcid.org/0000-0002-6939-2650
; Lecturer in Sociology of Communication and Culture, Department of Sociology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano, Largo Gemelli, 1, 20123 Milano,
Maria Francesca Murru
; PhD, Post-doctoral Fellow, Faculty of Political Sciences, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano, Largo Gemelli, 1, 20123 Milano,
Abstract
Whether seen from a “minimalist” or a “maximalist” model of democratic participation,
the issue of the role of the internet in facilitating citizens’ participation
in the public sphere has acquired a permanent place in the academic and
public debate. Particular attention has been devoted to young people and their
engagement with the internet and digital media. While a consistent body of
writing has focused on assessing the efficacy of online participation in mobilising
young people and promoting new citizenship models, a different approach
has addressed the issue from the perspective of media literacy, investigating the
links between digital and civic literacies. This second strand of research is rooted
in, while at the same time originating, the shift from media literacy to digital
citizenship operated at a policy and public level. However, the very concept of
media literacy is a contested one, as it is its stretching so as to include civic
competencies. On these premises, the present papers aims to provide a critical
review of the current debate on media and digital literacies framed as social
practices, and to investigate the relationship between digital and civic literacies
on a theoretical and empirically-driven level, in order to identify which
dimensions of both digital and civic literacy should be studied, and how.
Keywords
Media literacy - civic literacy - public sphere - citizenship
Hrčak ID:
133806
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2014.
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