Scandinavian expert group advises on media and democracy

Prepare - Distributed and prepared. A new theory of citizens` public connection networks in the age of datafication – is an ERC Consolidator Grant funded project led by professor Hallvard Moe in 2023-2027.

The aim of Prepare is to stake out a new path for research on citizens’ role in democracies. The project works to develop a feasible, normative theory of citizens’ orientations to the sphere of politics in datafied societies: their networks for public connection. This theory-development will be built on extensive qualitative ethnographies integrated with digital methods, of groups of so-called disconnected citizens.

The scientific adviosry group is integral to the execution of the project. They provide input on both theory development and methodological work, support the project’s junior researchers and provide experience and insight from their own research.

The Prepare advisory group consists of:

Brita Ytre-Arne, University of Bergen

Professor Brita Ytre-Arne is co-leader of Bergen Media Research Group and PI of the research project MUCS – Media Use in Crisis Situations. Her research explores 1) how we connect to society through news and cross-media use, 2) the meanings of media in everyday life, and 3) the impact of datafication, algorithms and mobile technologies on our lives.

Stine Lomborg, University of Copenhagen

Associate professor Stine Lomborg holds an ERC Starting Grant for the project Datafied Living, and is an integral part of the CHANSE project Automating Welfare as well as the danish AI project Platform intelligence in news. She studies the role of media in everyday life and in broader societal processes and contexts. Her work addresses the meanings and implications of digital tracking and data-driven decisions for humans and societies.

Anders Molander, Oslomet – Oslo Metropolitan University

Anders Molander is a professor at the Centre for the Study of Professions, Oslomet. His research interests include political philosophy, science theory, welfare policy, expertise and democracy, discretion, and the history of social sciences. Molander has authored over 50 scientific publications, including textbooks and research reports.

Stina Bengtsson, Södertörn University

Professor Stina Bengtsson is Head of the Faculty Board and part of Executive Management at Södertörn University. She is a professor of Media and Communications studies, and her research explores how people coexist with, and create meaning from, media in everyday life from phenomenological, material, spatial and ethical perspectives.

Torgeir Uberg Nærland, University of Bergen

Associate professor Torgeir Uberg Nærland is PI of the research project Media Poverty: media use and citizenship in conditions of deprivation, and part of Bergen Media Use Research Group. His research interests include audience research, social inequality, democracy, minorities, poverty, social theory and music.