Author(s): Pinney, L.
Date: 2020
Publication: Data Visualization in Society
Citation: Pinney, L. (2020). Is literacy what we need in an unequal society? In H. Kennedy & M. Engebretsen (Eds.), Data Visualization in Society (pp. 223–238). Amsterdam University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048543137-018
Section on webpage: Critical Data Justice Literature
Tenets: Using technology intentionally to build communities and enhance learning.
Annotation: (Abstract) Having the skills and awareness to make sense of data visualizations has become a contributing factor in determining who gets to participate in our data-driven society. Initiatives that seek to enable people to make sense of some aspect of our digital, dataf ied worlds are often described in terms of literacy. However, taking a closer look at different usages of literacy across academia, policy, and practice reveals dif ferent notions of power embedded in different populations’ implicit understanding of the term. Situated in the emerging f ield of critical data studies, the f ield that is concerned with understanding data’s role in reproducing and creating social inequalities, this is a conceptual chapter that asks how useful literacy is in this context.

 

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