Critical, Qualitative and Situated: Pedagogical Initiatives in a Datafied Society

Riccardo Pronzato () and Ana Kubrusly ()
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Riccardo Pronzato: Department of Communication, Arts and Media, IULM University, 20143 Milan, Italy
Ana Kubrusly: CICS.NOVA, NOVA University of Lisbon, 1099-085 Lisbon, Portugal

Societies, 2025, vol. 15, issue 9, 1-22

Abstract: Social researchers have extensively examined the systematic role played by digital platforms, algorithms and datafication processes in shaping social life. In response to the overwhelming power asymmetries, datafication processes and extractive conditions imposed on users, different scholars have emphasized the need for educational initiatives that foster forms of critical digital literacy. This article explores how critical pedagogical approaches can be embedded into research and teaching practices to support the analysis of everyday media experiences. Specifically, we discuss four case studies drawn from our prior and ongoing research on youth: (i) the use of autoethnographic diaries; (ii) the constitution of youth juries; (iii) the development of a critical digital literacy educational manual; (iv) the implementation of interactive workshops. We contend that these interventions share three key elements, i.e., a critical theory stance, a qualitative orientation, and the cultivation of situated knowledge, the intertwinement of which can promote instances of critical awareness and reflexivity, challenging the individualism and resignation frequently characteristic of contemporary digital life. We use this set of cases to offer a practical, multi-level approach for researchers and educators, showing how the theoretical principles of critical pedagogy can be put into concrete practices, addressing critical digital literacy across different levels.

Keywords: critical digital literacy; critical theory; qualitative epistemologies; situated knowledge; critical pedagogy; autoethnography; youth juries; educational manual; interactive workshops; datafication (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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