Digital Literacies and Civic Literacies: Theoretical Issues, Research Questions and Methodological Approaches

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.