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How the (E)User is Used: A policy analysis of the user and digital skills in the European Union’s digital policy

Thaning, Tove LU (2021) STVM23 20211
Department of Political Science
Abstract
As many societies are digitally transforming, citizens need to adapt and acquire digital skills to participate. Research has shown that low levels of digital skills can increase digital exclusion, and that skills needed to participate in society should be addressed in digital policy. The European Union (EU) with its many citizens has the potential to affect them all through its policies. In this thesis, the EU´s digital policy between 2010 and 2020 has been studied to see in what way the EU views the user and its skills. Through combining a computer-aided content analysis and a discourse analysis, based on Carol Bacchi’s what’s the problem represented to be approach, the EU’s user view was found to be dual. The dominating view was of the... (More)
As many societies are digitally transforming, citizens need to adapt and acquire digital skills to participate. Research has shown that low levels of digital skills can increase digital exclusion, and that skills needed to participate in society should be addressed in digital policy. The European Union (EU) with its many citizens has the potential to affect them all through its policies. In this thesis, the EU´s digital policy between 2010 and 2020 has been studied to see in what way the EU views the user and its skills. Through combining a computer-aided content analysis and a discourse analysis, based on Carol Bacchi’s what’s the problem represented to be approach, the EU’s user view was found to be dual. The dominating view was of the user as part of the workforce. Situated in the aftermath of the economic crisis 2007-2008 the EU needed a digitally skilled workforce as a resource. The other view was of the user as citizens where skills were needed for participation in society. Employing both neofunctionalism and constructivism on these results could shed light on why digital policy was linked to economic policy and hence why the workforce view was strong. A constructivist approach could further explain why the citizen view was secondary and why it started to increase. Digital policy had a closer tie to an economic norm than a social norm, which was somewhat altered partly in 2020 due to the Covid-19-pandemic being seen as a social crisis. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Thaning, Tove LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVM23 20211
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
digital user, skilled workforce, digital citizen, EU digital policy, digital exclusion
language
English
id
9045098
date added to LUP
2021-07-06 11:11:25
date last changed
2021-07-06 11:11:25
@misc{9045098,
  abstract     = {{As many societies are digitally transforming, citizens need to adapt and acquire digital skills to participate. Research has shown that low levels of digital skills can increase digital exclusion, and that skills needed to participate in society should be addressed in digital policy. The European Union (EU) with its many citizens has the potential to affect them all through its policies. In this thesis, the EU´s digital policy between 2010 and 2020 has been studied to see in what way the EU views the user and its skills. Through combining a computer-aided content analysis and a discourse analysis, based on Carol Bacchi’s what’s the problem represented to be approach, the EU’s user view was found to be dual. The dominating view was of the user as part of the workforce. Situated in the aftermath of the economic crisis 2007-2008 the EU needed a digitally skilled workforce as a resource. The other view was of the user as citizens where skills were needed for participation in society. Employing both neofunctionalism and constructivism on these results could shed light on why digital policy was linked to economic policy and hence why the workforce view was strong. A constructivist approach could further explain why the citizen view was secondary and why it started to increase. Digital policy had a closer tie to an economic norm than a social norm, which was somewhat altered partly in 2020 due to the Covid-19-pandemic being seen as a social crisis.}},
  author       = {{Thaning, Tove}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{How the (E)User is Used: A policy analysis of the user and digital skills in the European Union’s digital policy}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}