Stratified Publics: A Sociological Study of Inequality in Citizenship, Media, and Public Formation in the Digital Era

Morten Fischer Sivertsen

Stratified Publics: A Sociological Study of Inequality in Citizenship, Media, and Public Formation in the Digital Era

Morten Fischer Sivertsen

Publikation: Bog/antologi/afhandling/rapport › Ph.d.-afhandling

Abstract

I den digitale tidsalder udtrykkes der ofte bekymringer om, hvorvidt den offentlige samtale bliver manipuleret af uigennemsigtige algoritmer i overvågningskapitalismens tjeneste. Sådanne bekymringer er på deres plads, men de må nødvendigvis ledsages af solid empirisk forskning, som stiller skarpt på hvad borgerne rent faktisk gør og siger i det offentlige rum. Denne afhandling
bidrager med sådanne empiriske undersøgelser i en Bourdieusk optik. En sådan tilgang modvirker begrænsningerne ved medie-centrisme og betoner det relationelle forhold mellem mediebrug og ikke-medieret praksisser. Derudover gives der stor analytisk vægt til de sociale strukturer som sådanne
praksisser er situeret i, hvilket er en udbredt mangelvare, især i dansk medieforskning. Projektet bidrager således til en diskussion af uligheden og magtforholdene mellem borgere i forhold til at deltage i den moderne offentlighed. Mange forskere har diskuteret offentlighed på et teoretisk plan,
mens medieforskere og politologer oftest udelukkende fokuserer på henholdsvis mediernes rolle i offentlighedsdannelsen kontra valghandlinger og øvrig politisk deltagelse. Ved at gøre det til et sociologisk spørgsmål har denne afhandling knyttet spørgsmål om medieforbrug og politisk deltagelse sammen og undersøgt dem i relation til strukturelle spørgsmål om ulighed i offentlighedsdannelsen. Dette konceptualiseres som ”stratified publics”, hvilket giver nye perspektiver på udfordringerne og konflikterne i samtidens demokratiske liv, som alt for ofte kommer til at dreje sig udelukkende om de sociale medier.

Afhandlingens samlede bidrag kan opdeles i tre; empiriske/analytiske undersøgelser af, hvordan borgere danner offentligheder i den digitale samtid; metodologisk nytænkning, der søger at overvinde begrænsningerne ved survey-forskning; og teoretiske synteser af de empiriske indsigter, der er opnået
gennem forskningen, som udtrykt i begreberne ”stratified publics”, ”civic habitus” og ”civic capital”. Gennem disse begreber har jeg forsøgt at fremhæve måder, hvorpå demokratiet i praksis kan fostre dominansrelationer gennem symbolske kategoriseringer af borgere og politiske handlemåder, som afviger fra det normative status quo. Dermed har denne afhandling forsøgt at udvide forståelsen af, hvordan offentlighed og demokrati bliver til i den digitale tidsalder på tværs af sociale skel. Selv i et land som Danmark, der med sin velfærdsstat og public service-medier næppe er i fare for at gå demokratisk i hundene, er ulighed en vigtig faktor. I et bredere samfundsmæssigt perspektiv bør man derfor undgå yderligere offentlige forringelser af både medie- og velfærdsinstitutionerne for at sikre det danske samfunds sammenhængskraft i en tid, hvor hverdagen i stigende grad indhylles i data og digitale teknologier

Originalsprog	Engelsk

Udgivelsessted	Roskilde
Forlag	Roskilde Universitet
Antal sider	241
Status	Udgivet - 13 jun. 2023

Bibliografisk note

Vejledere:
Jannie Møller Hartley, Associate Professor, Roskilde University
Annick Prieur, Professor (co-supervisor), Aalborg University

Link til dokument

Stratified publics: A sociological study of inequality in citizenship, media and public formation in the digital eraForlagets udgivne version, 6,39 MB
Appendices_MFS_Dissertation

Citer dette

@phdthesis{5b0e86162c1a4a30a246265d3bfff078,

title = "Stratified Publics: A Sociological Study of Inequality in Citizenship, Media, and Public Formation in the Digital Era",

abstract = "Many researchers have described the public sphere as being in poor shape due to the opaque logics of algorithms that secretly structure the online public space in the service of surveillance capitalism, which in turn render citizens passive, feeble or belligerent. Although scholars rightly question how processes of social media datafication shapes human agency, we also need to undertake soundempirical research concerned with what citizens actually do within datafied publics. This dissertation provides such scrutiny and utilizes a Bourdieusian framework which has two distinct advantages. First, it allows for analysis of how the civic habitus of individuals manifests in both mediated and non-mediated contexts, thus countering the limitations of media-centrism. Second, this approach pays close attention to how such practices are situated within a vertically stratified social world, where citizenship and media usage can function as modes of social distinction. As such, it provides tools which enable us to examine patterns of social stratification – as well as the tacit mechanisms throughwhich they tend to reproduce – thus contributing to the discussion on inequality in terms of access to, and participation, in the public sphere(s). This perspective enables an analytical framework that allows us to empirically examine publics as interconnected entities across the social space. This conceptualisation, known as stratified publics, offers valuable insights into the dynamics of inequalityand power, providing fresh perspectives on the challenges and conflicts of democratic life today.The overall contributions of the dissertation can be divided into three dimensions: rigorous empirical/analytical explorations of how citizens form as publics in the digital era; methodological ingenuity which seeks to overcome the limitations of survey research, and argues for the strength of interdisciplinarity and mix-methods approaches; and theoretical synthetisation of the empiricalinsights gained from the research, as displayed in the concepts of stratified publics, civic habitus and civic capital. Through these notions, I have sought to highlight ways in which democracy in practice might foster dominance relations through symbolic and distinctive categorisations of citizens and forms of public formation. As such, this dissertation has sought to expand our understanding of how public sphere formation works in the digital age, asserting that non-digital social structures play a pivotal role in these processes. Even in Denmark, where for public sphere deterioration is less likely due the strength of its public service media and its relatively robust welfare state, social stratification remains significant. Thus, in a broader, societal view, my results support the argument that future policies aimed at weakening either of these institutions should be avoided ",

author = "Sivertsen, {Morten Fischer}",

note = "Supervisors: Jannie M{\o}ller Hartley, Associate Professor, Roskilde University Annick Prieur, Professor (co-supervisor), Aalborg University",

year = "2023",

month = jun,

day = "13",

language = "English",

publisher = "Roskilde Universitet",

}

TY - BOOK

T1 - Stratified Publics

T2 - A Sociological Study of Inequality in Citizenship, Media, and Public Formation in the Digital Era

AU - Sivertsen, Morten Fischer

N1 - Supervisors: Jannie Møller Hartley, Associate Professor, Roskilde University Annick Prieur, Professor (co-supervisor), Aalborg University

PY - 2023/6/13

Y1 - 2023/6/13

N2 - Many researchers have described the public sphere as being in poor shape due to the opaque logics of algorithms that secretly structure the online public space in the service of surveillance capitalism, which in turn render citizens passive, feeble or belligerent. Although scholars rightly question how processes of social media datafication shapes human agency, we also need to undertake soundempirical research concerned with what citizens actually do within datafied publics. This dissertation provides such scrutiny and utilizes a Bourdieusian framework which has two distinct advantages. First, it allows for analysis of how the civic habitus of individuals manifests in both mediated and non-mediated contexts, thus countering the limitations of media-centrism. Second, this approach pays close attention to how such practices are situated within a vertically stratified social world, where citizenship and media usage can function as modes of social distinction. As such, it provides tools which enable us to examine patterns of social stratification – as well as the tacit mechanisms throughwhich they tend to reproduce – thus contributing to the discussion on inequality in terms of access to, and participation, in the public sphere(s). This perspective enables an analytical framework that allows us to empirically examine publics as interconnected entities across the social space. This conceptualisation, known as stratified publics, offers valuable insights into the dynamics of inequalityand power, providing fresh perspectives on the challenges and conflicts of democratic life today.The overall contributions of the dissertation can be divided into three dimensions: rigorous empirical/analytical explorations of how citizens form as publics in the digital era; methodological ingenuity which seeks to overcome the limitations of survey research, and argues for the strength of interdisciplinarity and mix-methods approaches; and theoretical synthetisation of the empiricalinsights gained from the research, as displayed in the concepts of stratified publics, civic habitus and civic capital. Through these notions, I have sought to highlight ways in which democracy in practice might foster dominance relations through symbolic and distinctive categorisations of citizens and forms of public formation. As such, this dissertation has sought to expand our understanding of how public sphere formation works in the digital age, asserting that non-digital social structures play a pivotal role in these processes. Even in Denmark, where for public sphere deterioration is less likely due the strength of its public service media and its relatively robust welfare state, social stratification remains significant. Thus, in a broader, societal view, my results support the argument that future policies aimed at weakening either of these institutions should be avoided

AB - Many researchers have described the public sphere as being in poor shape due to the opaque logics of algorithms that secretly structure the online public space in the service of surveillance capitalism, which in turn render citizens passive, feeble or belligerent. Although scholars rightly question how processes of social media datafication shapes human agency, we also need to undertake soundempirical research concerned with what citizens actually do within datafied publics. This dissertation provides such scrutiny and utilizes a Bourdieusian framework which has two distinct advantages. First, it allows for analysis of how the civic habitus of individuals manifests in both mediated and non-mediated contexts, thus countering the limitations of media-centrism. Second, this approach pays close attention to how such practices are situated within a vertically stratified social world, where citizenship and media usage can function as modes of social distinction. As such, it provides tools which enable us to examine patterns of social stratification – as well as the tacit mechanisms throughwhich they tend to reproduce – thus contributing to the discussion on inequality in terms of access to, and participation, in the public sphere(s). This perspective enables an analytical framework that allows us to empirically examine publics as interconnected entities across the social space. This conceptualisation, known as stratified publics, offers valuable insights into the dynamics of inequalityand power, providing fresh perspectives on the challenges and conflicts of democratic life today.The overall contributions of the dissertation can be divided into three dimensions: rigorous empirical/analytical explorations of how citizens form as publics in the digital era; methodological ingenuity which seeks to overcome the limitations of survey research, and argues for the strength of interdisciplinarity and mix-methods approaches; and theoretical synthetisation of the empiricalinsights gained from the research, as displayed in the concepts of stratified publics, civic habitus and civic capital. Through these notions, I have sought to highlight ways in which democracy in practice might foster dominance relations through symbolic and distinctive categorisations of citizens and forms of public formation. As such, this dissertation has sought to expand our understanding of how public sphere formation works in the digital age, asserting that non-digital social structures play a pivotal role in these processes. Even in Denmark, where for public sphere deterioration is less likely due the strength of its public service media and its relatively robust welfare state, social stratification remains significant. Thus, in a broader, societal view, my results support the argument that future policies aimed at weakening either of these institutions should be avoided

M3 - Ph.D. thesis

BT - Stratified Publics

PB - Roskilde Universitet

CY - Roskilde

ER -