Spectacular Digitalization: Exploring the Role of Discourse and Education Technologies in (Re)producing the Imagined Community of the Nation

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterScientificpeer-review

Abstract

Digital technologies are increasingly engrained in education policies and practices. This chapter develops some initial ideas on (the question of) how the historical role of educational institutions as conduits of national socialization is enacted through digital policies and practices constituting contemporary education. These ideas are illustrated with examples from existing research and the author's ongoing study of Estonia as a self-proclaimed `digital nation' based on the analyses of textual and visual sources such as media articles, policies and promotional materials. First the chapter delves into the onto-epistemological assumptions that might explain the sparse interest in the link between educational digitalization and nationalism. It then moves to the role of commercial, non-state actors and questions the assumption of their disinterestedness in the prerogatives of nation-building. It shows how commercial actors involved in the digitalization of education capitalize on and reiterate national narratives on the one hand and offer material means for (re)producing the nation on the other. Finally the chapter proposes three intertwined ways in which the digitalization of education reproduces nationhood.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationNational Literacies in Education: Historical Reflections on the Nexus of Nations, National Identity, and Education
EditorsStephanie Fox, Lukas Boser
Place of PublicationCham
PublisherSpringer
Pages189-202
Number of pages14
Edition1
ISBN (Electronic)978-3-031-41762-7
ISBN (Print)978-3-031-41764-1, 978-3-031-41761-0
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023
Publication typeA3 Book chapter

Publication forum classification

  • Publication forum level 2

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Spectacular Digitalization: Exploring the Role of Discourse and Education Technologies in (Re)producing the Imagined Community of the Nation'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this