Redistributive imaginaries: Digitization, culture, and prosocial contribution

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The aim of this project is to investigate the role of the digital in emergent redistributive imaginaries in Europe. Taxation, philanthropy, charity and mutual aid are redistributive forms which enable individuals to 'pay in' to their societies. In the contemporary conjuncture, digitization processes are rapidly reconfiguring access to and engagement with these redistributive mechanisms, initiating more social forms of payment and contribution. The emergence of new modes of contribution fostered by digital platforms point to novel forms of participation, solidarity and care for others, but they are also disruptive of established state-mandated forms of social provisioning. 'Imaginaries' are semiotic systems that give meaning and shape to lived experience. Redistributive imaginaries provide collective, common-sense ways of understanding the relationship between economic contribution and social solidarity: they give meaning to the structures which enable citizens to make prosocial contributions. This project will interrogate the role of the digital in emergent redistributive forms and imaginaries. By analysing five national contexts representing different welfare state models and philanthropic traditions (UK, Switzerland, Finland, Spain and Montenegro), it will consider the implications of this investigation for the future of prosocial contribution in Europe. As a consortium we are uniquely placed to deliver qualitative research that foregrounds the role of cultural, signifying practices in economic processes and practices and builds on our existing empirical and conceptual expertise. Our mixed-methods approach incorporates discourse analysis, affordance analysis of digital platforms, and ethnography of everyday prosocial practices. The investigation will significantly advance the study of economic imaginaries, and it will deliver evidence-based case studies and scenarios of value to a range of stakeholder audiences in civil society, government and business.