IS30460

This module examines how gender, race and other forms of diversity have emerged as key debates in digital media. In the 1990s there was a broad consensus, at least in Europe, concerning race and gender: anti-racism and gender equality were an integral part of policies. While there were still many issues to be addressed, there was a general normative agreement that racism, gender discrimination, and other forms of discrimination were unacceptable. How is it that from this consensus we have now reached a situation that some describe as a ‘culture war’? What is the role of digital technologies and media in intensifying or abating tensions? How is it that from the techno-optimist discussions of the 2010s we are now routinely witnessing racist, misogynistic, anti-LGBTQ and other toxic contents online? And what do we need to do to address this? This course seeks to pry open some of these issues through: (i) contextualising historically debates and approaches to gender, race, sexuality and other identities and movements around them; (ii) adopting a socio-technical lense, that understands digital technologies not as neutral platforms but as powerful actors in these debates; and (iii) anchoring these debates to specific policy decisions that have important ramifications.