A new book published by Nordicom, The Digital Backlash and the Paradoxes of Disconnection, gives the reader a detailed and broad understanding of how people deal with digital devices and platforms in everyday life. The contributions demonstrate how we are currently in a historical moment of digital critique, or digital backlash, and how this is expressed across different domains of society.
The editors, Kristoffer Albris, Karin Fast, Faltin Karlsen, Anne Kaun, Stine Lomborg, and Trine Syvertsen, explain how digitalisation has had great influence on many aspects of society in the past decades – culturally, socially, economically, and politically.
“It now seems like the hype of the 1990s and 2000s is being replaced by scepticism. How this scepticism is expressed, and how people navigate such a “post-digital” world, is what this book is about. It’s important to understand for anyone who cares about the future of the world we live in”, say the editors.
From “mobile-free” schools to the role of Big Tech
The contributions span from the idea of “mobile-free” schools, work regulations along the lines of a “right to disconnect”, the rise of new entrepreneurs in the “digital detox” industry, the perceived negative consequences of digital connectivity for the well-being of children and young people, as well as critiques of the role of Big Tech.
According to the editors, a distinct focus is placed on social practices and dilemmas related to new ways that people adapt to, appropriate, and push back against digital technologies in everyday life.
Throughout the chapters, the authors present empirical studies and theoretical discussions that are nested in media and communication studies, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, and related fields.
Focus on Scandinavia
The book has a general focus on the Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. A few chapters, however, present case studies from other contexts, for instance, Italy and Portugal, or present country comparisons.
“The Scandinavian context is interesting because of the high levels of connectivity and its long tradition of media politics along the lines of a media welfare state. It also represents a context in which ideals of hyper-connectivity exist next to oppositional values, such as living a simple or “authentic” life close to nature but far from screens”, say the editors.
Read the anthology: The Digital Backlash and the Paradoxes of Disconnection