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Digital Vulnerabilities

Kaun, Anne ; Arnelid, Maria ; Enlund, Desirée ; Falk, Petter ; Johnson, Ericka ; Mörtsell, Sara LU orcid ; Sundin, Olof LU orcid and Stiernstedt, Fredrik (2026) In Media, Culture and Society
Abstract
Recent global events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, wars and migration streams, have highlighted the promise of digital infrastructures while also showcasing how dependent we are on digital systems for accessing welfare services such as healthcare, social services and education, as well as for accessing public service media. Notably, in the context of welfare provision, different people and social groups are affected in distinct ways by such digital systems. This Crosscurrent contribution conceptualizes the notion of digital vulnerabilities, which captures some of the contemporary challenges posed to societies increasingly interconnected with and dependent on digital systems. Drawing on feminist moral philosophy, we suggest three layers... (More)
Recent global events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, wars and migration streams, have highlighted the promise of digital infrastructures while also showcasing how dependent we are on digital systems for accessing welfare services such as healthcare, social services and education, as well as for accessing public service media. Notably, in the context of welfare provision, different people and social groups are affected in distinct ways by such digital systems. This Crosscurrent contribution conceptualizes the notion of digital vulnerabilities, which captures some of the contemporary challenges posed to societies increasingly interconnected with and dependent on digital systems. Drawing on feminist moral philosophy, we suggest three layers of digital vulnerabilities: vulnerabilities through digital infrastructures, vulnerabilities in digital infrastructures and vulnerabilities of digital infrastructures. We illustrate these three layers with examples from four critical welfare domains, namely healthcare, education, social services and public service media. We conclude with a call for additional empirical research on how digital vulnerabilities play out in practice, across welfare domains and in welfare regimes beyond the Global North. Such issues need to be explored further to meet contemporary challenges. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Maria Arnelid, Petter Falk, Desirée Enlund, Ericka
Johnson, Sara Mörtsell, Olof Sundin, Fredrik Stiernstedt
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
keywords
vulnerability, digital infrastructures, welfare, digital welfare, permacrisis, feminist moral, philosophy
in
Media, Culture and Society
pages
9 pages
publisher
SAGE Publications
ISSN
1460-3675
DOI
10.1177/01634437261446790
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f91d084d-7355-4ecd-bf36-95a502e97093
date added to LUP
2026-04-24 09:58:04
date last changed
2026-05-04 15:13:24
@article{f91d084d-7355-4ecd-bf36-95a502e97093,
  abstract     = {{Recent global events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, wars and migration streams, have highlighted the promise of digital infrastructures while also showcasing how dependent we are on digital systems for accessing welfare services such as healthcare, social services and education, as well as for accessing public service media. Notably, in the context of welfare provision, different people and social groups are affected in distinct ways by such digital systems. This Crosscurrent contribution conceptualizes the notion of digital vulnerabilities, which captures some of the contemporary challenges posed to societies increasingly interconnected with and dependent on digital systems. Drawing on feminist moral philosophy, we suggest three layers of digital vulnerabilities: vulnerabilities through digital infrastructures, vulnerabilities in digital infrastructures and vulnerabilities of digital infrastructures. We illustrate these three layers with examples from four critical welfare domains, namely healthcare, education, social services and public service media. We conclude with a call for additional empirical research on how digital vulnerabilities play out in practice, across welfare domains and in welfare regimes beyond the Global North. Such issues need to be explored further to meet contemporary challenges.}},
  author       = {{Kaun, Anne and Arnelid, Maria and Enlund, Desirée and Falk, Petter and Johnson, Ericka and Mörtsell, Sara and Sundin, Olof and Stiernstedt, Fredrik}},
  issn         = {{1460-3675}},
  keywords     = {{vulnerability; digital infrastructures; welfare; digital welfare; permacrisis; feminist moral; philosophy}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Media, Culture and Society}},
  title        = {{Digital Vulnerabilities}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/01634437261446790}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/01634437261446790}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}