Understanding digital citizenship in everyday life: tensions between digital inclusion policies and disadvantaged citizens’ experiences

Abstract

This study examines how disadvantaged, low-literate adults experience digital citizenship to scrutinize digital inclusion policies and promote a more inclusive, diverse, and comprehensive understanding of digital citizenship and inclusion. Therefore, we ask: (1) What do disadvantaged, low-literate Dutch citizens consider digital citizenship? (2) How is digital citizenship practiced in everyday life by disadvantaged, low-literate Dutch citizens? (3) How is the imposed digitization of digital citizenship experienced by disadvantaged, low-literate Dutch citizens? To answer these questions, we adopt an ethnographic approach inspired by grounded theory. We rely on participant observations and semi-structured interviews (N = 77) with low-literate Dutch adults in three libraries, a community center, and a school for adult education in the Netherlands. Our findings reveal that low-literate citizens see digital citizenship not as an empowering choice but as an imposed necessity, raising questions about its value and inclusivity. Therefore, we argue that enforcing active digital citizenship strategies without co-creating digital inclusion programs with disadvantaged citizens raises the risk of fostering social exclusion, as disadvantaged citizens are held responsible for their failures, shortcomings, and vulnerabilities. Our study not only shows the impact of digitization on (disadvantaged) citizens’ lives, but also how this limits possibilities to foster their own situated expressions and practices of citizenship. These insights could foster a more situated, polyvocal, and holistic understanding of digital inclusion and digital citizenship.