Pilot study on marginalized groups
In December 2015, Gitte Bang Stald and Mette Grønbæk Rasmussen, conducted a pilot study on digital citizenship within socially marginalized groups. The aim of the study was to explore how marginalization and vulnerability can be studied in relation to digital society. Exploring the consequences of the “digital divide”, the study went further into how marginalization and restricted access to ICT affects the experience of citizenship in the digital age.
A preliminary analysis of the interviews show that life is very different for all informants, which is reflected their media use and their experiences of citizenship and exclusion. People with no permanent residence, personal communication and information are restricted by the lack of power supply (“if only smartphones used AA batteries”). That is to say, most practical means of communication are non-smart mobile-phones (long-lasting battery) and FM radio (entertaining AND uses AA batteries). For people living under long-term incarceration, communication is shaped by institutionalization and the problem of security. Contact with people and institutions outside the wall is therefore limited to face-to face visits, snail mail and land-line phonecalls (from one of the phonebooth in a common area).
Further information on our blog.