Positioning ICT users as “both producers and consumers of information” (Bennett, 2008: 9), the development of media platforms and social software enables “unprecedented levels of production and distribution of ideas, public deliberation, and network organization” (ibid.: 1). Furthermore, over the generations, the normative definition of citizenship has evolved from dutiful to self-actualising citizen (Theocharis & van Deth, 2017): they are part of a society where “individuals have become more responsible for the production and management of their own social and political identities” (Bennett, 2008: 13).
In this context, our presentation explores the concept of mediatised participation applied to two fields: one political (or institutionalised), the other civic (or non-institutionalised). Based on the concepts of political, civic and media participations (Burton, 2019), it highlights how media and technology are mobilised by young adults (25-35 years old) who are involved either in the local branch of a political party (i.e. political participation) or in a citizen-based group aimed at the creation of a fair, inclusive and sustainable society (i.e. civic participation). Our contribution aims to identify the similarities and differences in their media practices and, ultimately, the media competences that are specific to these two spheres.
Following Schatzki and his colleagues (2001), we consider the social as “a field of incorporated and materially interconnected practices that are organized around shared practical understandings” (Schatzki et al., 2001: 11, personal translation). These practices are a constitutive dimension of the social (Frega, 2016), transcending the opposition between individuals and structures. Moreover, practices are “realizing” (Genard, 2013: 48, personal translation) (i.e. situated performances through which competences are actualized), while competences are “dispositional” (ibid.). The competence relates to one's ability to mobilize their own resources (internal) and those of their environment (external) in the face of complex and unprecedented situations (Scallon, 2004). Specifically, mastering media competences makes the individual capable “to share meaning through symbol systems in order to fully participate in society” (Hobbs, 2010: 16) and “to evolve critically and creatively, autonomously and socially in the contemporary media environment” (Fastrez & De Smedt, 2012: 47, personal translation).
The presentation will document the mediatised political and civic participation of engaged young adults: how media and technology contribute to these forms of participation, and how they blend with the dynamics of politically- and civically-engaged groups. Using a collective approach, our researches identify media practices and competences distributed across these groups. Moreover, we consider actors as “competent users” (Berger & De Munck, 2015), i.e. capable of giving a normative meaning to their actions. Our collective and comprehensive approach enables us to enrich our conceptual framework (Burton, 2019) with empirical material, developing an up-to-date and grounded picture of mediatised civic and political participation. Furthermore, considering the actors’ perspectives allow us to broaden the interpretative field of media competences studies, which is usually focused on (expert’s) external normativity.