Civic
Last, but not least, we have the Civic element of digital literacies. The focus here is upon literacy practices supporting the development of Civil Society. 1 Digital literacies involve more than merely elegantly 26 consuming the media of big business and government. Closely aligned to the Critical element, the Civic element is about using digital environments to self-organise. This can be done on a large scale to devastating effect (for example, the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ of early 2011) or on a more local level. Examples of the latter include everything from ‘unofficial’ school councils to co-operative movements and the organisation behind mutually beneficial projects such as the Queen Street Commons. 2
It may be an over-used comparison, but the ability for people to connect to one another using digital technologies is a revolution akin to the invention and use of Gutenberg’s printing press in the 15th century. Interestingly, the history of literacy practices broadly correlates with the spread of democracy. Just as with the ‘Arab Spring’ example above — where connections via social networks such as Twitter and Facebook helped lead to the downfall of Middle Eastern regimes — literacy practices are empowering.
This empowerment, however, does not always lead to positive consequences, as the rioting across English cities in the same year as the Arab Spring proved. 3 In addition, the rise of Al-Quaeda-like ‘cells’ across the world is predicated upon digital communications. These practices and associated literacies are disruptive — leading to consequences both positive and negative.
If literacies are always for a particular purpose, if they’re always about reading and writing something, then, to my mind, the Civic element is that ‘something’ that is being read and written. Preparing both ourselves and others to participate fully in society should, to my mind, be the goal of literacies.
1. Wikipedia has a useful definition of Civil Society as "the arena outside of the family, the state, and the market where people associate to advance common interests" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_society) ↩
2 See http://queenstreetcommons.org and also Harold Jarche’s Renaissance Sackville project: http://bit.ly/I7iEPT
3. Although there were many and varied reasons for the English riots in August 2011, the means of communication behind them (BlackBerry Messenger, Twitter and the Sony PlayStation Network) are interesting in their own right. ↩