Over the last decade, internet technology has penetrated all aspects of human life, from interpersonal communication, economic transaction, employment relation, the shaping of political perception, to religious expression. Recent debates have evolved around the productive and exploitative faces of this digitalization of our contemporary life (e.q. Valenzuela, 2012; Trottier, 2016; Lim, 2017). According Fuch (2019), some scholars and most political and economic elites hold optimistic views seeing this issue. In contrast, working class are worried of its negative and exploitative impacts from the reorganisation of capitalism. Lastly, critical individuals and groups are always alert to possible risks and its constraints to human emancipation agenda. This panel invites papers building critical narratives on the digital revolution, without neglecting the optimistic opportunities it embodies.

Papers