Critical is not political

Abstract

Data literacy is slowly becoming a more prominent feature of contemporary society. Some argue that people need to obtain new competencies to mitigate and engage with the multiplicity of ways in which they are affected by data. Literacy as such is positioned as a pathway towards empowerment, enable people to make informed choices about their data environment and increasing their ability to actively participate in the discussion that determines the socio-technical systems that will impact their lives. In this article, I will argue that we need to account for the externalities that emerge from the mere act of centring data in a literacy approach and unpack the assumptions that underpin the concept. To advance the argument that data literacy needs to be (re)politicize, both in terms of the perceived competencies need in a data society and the 'neutrality of the practice in itself. To ensure that the audience will have more thoughtful and actionable pathways forward data literacy should learn from other disciplines that have a more thorough analysis of dismantling power structures, engaging with inequality and encouraging political participation.

Critical datafication literacy – a framework for educating about datafication

“…Although the interviewed creators had mixed opinions about how realistic it is to change the behaviour of learners, all resources aimed at people taking action in one way or another. This constitutes an encouraging finding as scholars have highlighted the importance of providing constructive advice to avoid learners' resignation when educating about data systems (Jansen, 2021;Bilstrup et al, 2022). This approach further corresponds with critical pedagogy's goal of replacing resignation with a drive for transformation (Freire, 2017, p. 58).…”

“…Rather than providing generic implementation advice and thereby assuming a homogeneous understanding of learners, the framework presented here constitutes the core, the abstract goals of critical education about datafication, which should then be adapted to different educational contexts and groups of learners when fostering this literacy in practice. For this reason, the singular term “literacy” is used instead of the multiple “literacies” that have been suggested by others (Pangrazio and Selwyn, 2019; Fotopoulou, 2020; Jansen, 2021). A final terminological consideration concerned the term “datafication”.…”

“…These critical and collective approaches stand in contrast to the individualised approaches of many critical data literacy concepts. Learning from this field could contribute to a (re)politicisation of data literacy that has been called for (Jansen, 2021).…”

“…Moreover, some of the analysed approaches come with little theoretical grounding, which can leave them disconnected from insights of traditional education scholarship. Finally, the “seeming […] ‘neutrality’” of existing data literacy concepts has been criticised, and the need for a “(re)politicization of data literacy” highlighted (Jansen, 2021, p. 1). A (re)politicised data literacy should learn from pedagogical approaches that aim for “democratic engagement, dismantling power structures, policy reform and activism” (Jansen, 2021, p. 8).…”

“…Finally, the “seeming […] ‘neutrality’” of existing data literacy concepts has been criticised, and the need for a “(re)politicization of data literacy” highlighted (Jansen, 2021, p. 1). A (re)politicised data literacy should learn from pedagogical approaches that aim for “democratic engagement, dismantling power structures, policy reform and activism” (Jansen, 2021, p. 8). To address the highlighted gaps, this study investigated what critical data literacy can learn from well-established educational approaches.…”