In conversation with digitalization: Myths, fiction or professional imagining?

Abstract

We are surrounded by narratives about digitalization – in media, in white papers, in policies and in academic discourse. This article aims to dissect policy narratives to unveil the dominant stories associated with digitalization and open a dialogue on their consequences. The empirical material includes policy documents on digitalization at the European Union, national and sub-national levels focusing on the Swedish context. The article argues that these documents not only produce narratives of digitalization that reveal a certain orientation towards reality but also become tangible constructs. Further, despite their neutral language, they should be considered part of the problem formulation. The analysis is carried out by identifying the dominant and taken-for-granted stories, and the results show that digitalization, often portrayed as a modern and innovative concept, is frequently narrated in line with rather traditional perceptions of industrialized modernity. The results indicate that digitalization is trapped in an unambiguous and cramped dramaturgy, and if policies are enacted in the same way in practice, we will face a rather un-resilient digital modernity.

Best of the best: an investigation of policy enactment for key drivers of digitalization

“…However, the findings of this study suggest that policies can go beyond textual interventions and begin to shape certain developments. This aligns with the assertion of Nyhlén and Gidlund (2022) that policy documents affect reality and influence actions.…”

“…services) and addressing practical challenges is a more straightforward process than “becoming the best in the world.” Abstract rhetoric of this nature may have strategic or political implications, but it lacks practical enactment and fails to drive the meaningful change intended by the policy. Previous critiques have highlighted such ambiguities; and if these statements are enforced, it could lead to an “un-resilient digital modernity” (Nyhlén and Gidlund, 2022, p. 339). The notion of “becoming the best” with regard to digitalization initiatives, as previously observed, does not contribute value to practice and might be considered “lost in translation” (Nyhlén and Gidlund, 2019) or “lost in digitalization” (Frennert, 2018) when being enacted.…”

Old Wine in a New Bottle? – Interpreting Gender Mainstreaming in a Municipal Reorganisation

“…Digitalisation is depicted as a means to become more efficient and modern but also to create gender-equal working conditions. Technical solutions are depicted as if they always increase efficiency, and the value of digitalisation and new technology permeates the documents without ever being problematised (see, e.g., Nyhlén and Gidlund 2021). In this context, new technology and digitalisation are presented as solutions associated with creating a modern public administration (Overall project plan 2018c), an administration that "in a systematically and thoughtful way, uses the possibilities of digitalisation" (Final project report, 2019d: 7).…”