Media Literacy and Digital Citizenship: A Rationality of Exclusion by Inclusion

Year 2023, Volume: 12 Issue: 2, 163 - 180, 29.09.2023

O. Özgür Güven

https://doi.org/10.53306/klujfeas.1343251

Abstract

In today’s ever-expanding digital space, media literacy debates revolve around the question of information quality and the “appropriate” use of technology. These debates incorporate discursive constructs such as analytical thinking, informed citizenship, and cultural participation. The research question of this study is what this discourse signifies in neoliberal socio-economic order, where digital industries are aggressively promoted, and how to comprehend the rationales of media literacy for expressing the digital self. The analysis of the research question is rooted in Foucault's discussion of governmentality, which he uses to illustrate the mechanisms through which liberal doctrines organize the population based on economic processes. Media literacy has evolved into a hegemonic indicator of professional competence and social skills in today's world, where digitalization has taken on a fetishistic role. In this sense, it is assumed that media literacy, with its dominant discourses and practices, is linked to the objective of constructing subjectivity that provides internal coherence to the logic of neoliberal social and economic organization. An individual's economic and social cohesion relies on developing their literacy skills, i.e., enhancing their online experience. This perspective, viewing media literacy as the acquisition of a skill set, is founded on the notion that technology is a neutral category that individuals can employ to attain their objectives. Consequently, the political and economic agenda, wherein the utilization of digital technology becomes a citizen's responsibility, is affirmed; digitalization processes are excluded from discussions on inequality and injustice. As a result, within the power dynamics of the digital space that extends economic and social control, forms of relationships emerge in which subjects are marginalized despite their inclusion in the digital realm.

Keywords

Media literacy, Digital citizenship, Governmentality, Neoliberal subjectivity, Digitalization

Medya Okuryazarlığı ve Dijital Vatandaşlık: Bir İçererek Dışlama Rasyonalitesi

Abstract

Dijital uzamın giderek genişlediği günümüzde, medya okuryazarlığı tartışmaları analitik düşünme, bilinçli vatandaş, kültürel katılım gibi söylemsel yapılar üzerinden, bilginin niteliği sorununa ve teknolojinin “uygun” kullanımı meselesine odaklanmaktadır. Dijital endüstrilerin agresif bir şekilde teşvik edildiği neoliberal sosyo-ekonomik düzende bu söylemin ne anlama geldiği ve medya okuryazarlığının dijital benliği ifade etmeye dair rasyonellerini nasıl anlamak gerektiği bu çalışmanın sorunsalını oluşturmaktadır. Sorunsalın analizinde, Foucault’nun liberal doktrinlerin nüfusu ekonomik süreçlere göre düzenleme mekanizmalarını anlatmak için kullandığı yönetimsellik (governmentality) tartışması eksen alınmaktadır. Medya okuryazarlığı, dijitalleşmenin fetiş bir unsura dönüştüğü günümüzde, mesleki yeterlilik ve sosyal becerilerin hegemonik bir göstergesi haline gelmektedir. Bu anlamda, medya okuryazarlığının baskın söylem ve pratikleriyle, neoliberal sosyal ve ekonomik örgütlenme mantığına içsel tutarlılık sağlayan bir öznellik inşası hedefine bağlı olduğu varsayılmaktadır. Bireyin ekonomik ve sosyal uyumu, okuryazarlık becerilerini geliştirmesine, yani çevrimiçi deneyimini güncellemesine bağlıdır. Medya okuryazarlığını bir dizi beceri kazandırma meselesi olarak ele alan bu yaklaşım, teknolojinin insanların amaçlarına ulaşmak için kullanılabilecekleri nötr bir kategori olduğu varsayımına dayanmaktadır. Böylece, dijital teknoloji kullanımının bir vatandaşlık görevi haline getirildiği siyasi ve ekonomik gündem teyit edilmekte; dijitalleşme süreçleri, eşitsizlik ve adaletsizlikle ilgili tartışmaların dışında tutulmaktadır. Sonuç olarak, dijital uzamın ekonomik ve toplumsal kontrolü genişleten güç ilişkileri düzeninde, uyrukların dijital uzama dahil edilmek suretiyle dışlandıkları ilişki biçimleri mümkün hale gelmektedir.

Keywords

Medya okuryazarlığı, Dijital vatandaşlık, Yönetimsellik, Neoliberal öznellik, Dijitalleşme

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