How can we achieve digital justice in the age of COVID-19? This book explores how the pandemic has transformed our use and perception of digital technologies in various settings. It also examines the right to resist or reject these technologies and the politics of refusal in different contexts and scenarios. The book offers a timely and original analysis of the new realities and challenges of digital technologies, paving the way for a post-COVID-19 future.
Life is increasingly governed and mediated through digital and smart technologies, platforms, big data and algorithms. However, the reasons, practices and impact of how the digital is used by different institutions are often deeply linked to social oppression and injustice. Similarly, the ability to resist these digital impositions is based on inequality and privilege. Challenging the ways in which we are increasingly dependent on the digital, this book raises a set of provocative and urgent questions: in a world of compulsory digitality is there an opt out button? Where, when, how, why and to whom is it available? Answering these questions has become even more relevant since the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, the book puts forward the concept of ‘digital disengagement’ which is explored across six key areas of digitisation: health; citizenship; education; consumer culture; labour; and the environment. Part I examines the difficulty of opting out of compulsory digitality in a world where most things are digital by default. From health apps, algorithmic decision-making to learning analytics, opting out comes with a set of troubling consequences. Part II turns to several examples of disconnection and disengagement. The chapters reveal how phenomena like digital detoxes, time-management apps and online ‘green’ spaces are co-opted by the very digital systems one is trying to resist. The book critiques issues relating to digital surveillance, algorithmic discrimination and biased tech, corporatisation and monetisation of data, exploitative digital labour, digitalised self-discipline and destruction of the environment. As an interdisciplinary piece of work, the book will be useful to any scholar and activist in Digital, Internet and Social Media Studies; Digital Sociology and Social Policy; Digital Health; Media, Popular and Communication Studies; Consumer culture; and Environment Studies.
Opting out of Digital Media showcases the role of human agency and cultural identity in the development and use of digital technologies. Based on academic research, news and trade reports, popular culture and 105 in-depth interviews, this book explores the contemporary "opting out" trend. It focuses directly on people’s intentions and the many reasons why they engage with or reject digital technologies. Author Bonnie Brennen illustrates the nuanced thinking and numerous reasons why people choose to use some new technologies and reject others. Some interviewees opt out of digital technologies because of their ethical, political, environmental, religious or cultural beliefs. Other people consider new media superficial diversions that do not meet their expectations, needs or interests while some citizens worry about issues of privacy and security and reject digital technologies because of their fears. Still other people construct their cultural identities through the choices they make about their use of new media. In many cases the use or nonuse of digital technologies offers specific representations of how people assert their independence, authority and agency over new media, while in some cases the choices that people make about new technologies also illustrate their class position or socioeconomic status. Opting Out of Digital Media responds to the growing opting out trend, addressing the developments in the unplugging phenomenon. It serves as the ideal text for any reader interested in the role of digital technologies in our lives and how it has become a part of a mainstream movement.
Geriatric Dentistry in the Age of Digital Technology is a comprehensive guide that addresses the crucial role of dental professionals in providing specialized care for aging patients in today's digital era. As the world's population continues to age, it is imperative to prioritize the health promotion, prevention, and recovery of older individuals, especially concerning their oral health. Drawing upon relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research, this book offers invaluable insights for professionals seeking to enhance their understanding of Geriatric Dentistry and Gerodontology, as well as their application within the international context of digital transformation. Whether you are a dentist, dental student, researcher, or involved in the management of elderly dental care, this book provides a comprehensive exploration of the discipline's key topics. Delving into a range of subjects, the book covers essential areas such as the integration of Geriatrics and Gerontology into dental training, teaching methodologies for Geriatric Dentistry and Gerodontology, prevalent systemic diseases among the elderly, oral conditions commonly observed in this population, changes in the oral cavity during aging, and holistic dental care for geriatric patients in the digital age. Additionally, the book explores the dynamic relationship between oral health and the quality of life of older individuals, strategies for health promotion and disease prevention, salutogenic marketing approaches, and the challenges faced in providing dental care for elderly patients, including physical, psychosocial, and geographical barriers.
This SAGE Handbook brings together cutting edge social scientific research and theoretical insight into the emerging contours of digital society. Chapters explore the relationship between digitisation, social organisation and social transformation at both the macro and micro level, making this a valuable resource for postgraduate students and academics conducting research across the social sciences. The topics covered are impressively far-ranging and timely, including machine learning, social media, surveillance, misinformation, digital labour, and beyond. This innovative Handbook perfectly captures the state of the art of a field which is rapidly gaining cross-disciplinary interest and global importance, and establishes a thematic framework for future teaching and research. Part 1: Theorising Digital Societies Part 2: Researching Digital Societies Part 3: Sociotechnical Systems and Disruptive Technologies in Action Part 4: Digital Society and New Social Dilemmas Part 5: Governance and Regulation Part 6: Digital Futures
The concept of smart cities holds environmental promises: that digital technologies will reduce carbon emissions, air pollution and waste, and help address climate change. Drawing on academic scholarship and two case studies from Manchester and Helsinki, this timely and accessible book examines what happens when these promises are broken, as they prioritise technological innovation rather than environmental care. The book reveals that smart cities’ vision of sustainable digital future obfuscates the environmental harms and social injustices that digitisation inflicts. The framework of “broken promises”, coined by the authors, centres environmental questions in analysing imaginaries and practices of smart cities. This is a must read for anyone interested in the connections between digital technologies and environment justice.
It is said that the ontology of data resists slowness and also that the digital revolution promised a levelling of the playing field. Both theories are examined in this timely collection of chapters looking at time in the digital world. Since data has assumed such a paramount place in the modern neoliberal world, contemporary concepts of time have undergone radical transformation. By critically assessing the emerging initiatives of slowing down in the digital age, this book investigates the role of the digital in ultimately reinforcing neo-liberal temporalities. It shows that both "speed-up" and "slow down" imperatives often function as a form of biopolitical social control necessary to contemporary global capitalism. Problematic paradoxes emerge where a successful slow down and digital detox ultimately are only successful if the individual returns to the world as a more productive, labouring neoliberal subject. Is there another way? The chapters in this collection, broken up into three parts, ask that question.
With the widespread transformation of information into digital form throughout society – firms and organisations are embracing this development to adopt multiple types of IT to increase internal efficiency and to achieve external visibility and effectiveness – we have now reached a position where there is data in abundance and the challenge is to manage and make use of it fully. This book addresses this new managerial situation, the post-digitalisation era, and offers novel perspectives on managing the digital landscape. The topics span how the post-digitalisation era has the potential to renew organisations, markets and society. The chapters of the book are structured in three topical sections but can also be read individually. The chapters are structured to offer insights into the developments that take place at the intersection of the management, information systems and computer science disciplines. It features more than 70 researchers and managers as collaborating authors in 23 thought-provoking chapters. Written for scholars, researchers, students and managers from the management, information systems and computer science disciplines, the book presents a comprehensive and thought-provoking contribution on the challenges of managing organisations and engaging in global markets when tools, systems and data are abundant.
Today’s high schools are increasingly based around the use of digital technologies. Students and teachers are encouraged to ‘Bring Your Own Device’, teaching takes place through ‘learning management systems’ and educators are rushing to implement innovations such as flipped classrooms, personalized learning, analytics and ‘maker’ technologies. Yet despite these developments, the core processes of school appear to have altered little over the past 50 years. As the twenty-first century progresses, concerns are growing that the basic model of ‘school’ is ‘broken’ and no longer ‘fit for purpose’. This book moves beyond the hype and examines the everyday realities of digital technology use in today’s high schools. Based on a major ethnographic study of three contrasting Australian schools, the authors lay bare the reasons underlying the inconsistent impact of digital technologies on day-to-day schooling. The book examines leadership and management of technology in schools, the changing nature of teachers’ work in the digital age, as well as student (mis)uses of technologies in and out of classrooms. In-depth case studies are presented of the adoption of personalized learning apps, social media and 3D printers. These investigations all lead to a detailed understanding of why schools make use of digital technologies in the ways that they do. Everyday Schooling in the Digital Age: High School, High Tech? offers a revealing analysis of the realities of contemporary schools and schooling – drawing on arguments and debates from various academic literatures such as policy studies, sociology of education, social studies of technology, media and communication studies. Over the course of ten wide-ranging chapters, a range of suggestions are developed as to how the full potential of digital technology might be realized within schools. Written in a detailed but accessible manner, this book offers an ambitious critique that is essential reading for anyone interested in the fast-changing nature of contemporary education.
