3 Questions: Jennifer Light on new media and democracy
New forms of digital media have made it easier for citizens to donate to politicians, start petitions, watch video of campaign-trail gaffes — and of course, offer their own opinions to a large audience. Are these fundamental changes to our political practices, or just modifications that leave an older form of politics intact? Professor Jennifer Light, a historian of technology in MIT’s Program in Science, Technology, and Society (STS) and Department of Urban Studies and Planning, explores this issue in a new book she has co-edited, “From Voice to Influence: Understanding Citizenship in a Digital Age,” just published by the University of Chicago Press. The volume contains contributions from a wide range of prominent scholars — including philosopher Tommie Shelby, psychologist Howard Gardner, and MIT scholar of digital media Ethan Zuckerman — as well as Light and her co-editor, Harvard University political theorist Danielle Allen. MIT News recently spoke with...