Becoming Human in a Postdigital Lifeworld

Socialisation, education and subjectivation under postdigital conditions are the focus of this course. Students will acquire the theoretical foundations to be able to observe, analyse and evaluate subjectivation practices in post-digital environments and their effects on different fields of social work. Postdigital everyday practices such as gaming, digital parenting, self-tracking, etc. are initially addressed in order to find out how the digital transformation of society affects people’s lives, what opportunities and challenges they face and what consequences this has for postdigital social workers. Among other things, the focus is on the power of the platform society over concepts of body, psyche and health, of privacy and publicity, of cultural and political affiliation as well as the influence of artificial intelligence on the way people gain knowledge about the world and the impact of datafication on the way people experience themselves and interact with each other. Students are enabled to understand postdigitality as a transformer of self-concepts and identities and to reflect on what it means to become a human being under postdigital conditions. The seminar will be offered in the summer semester 2025 in blended learning format at the Humanistische Hochschule Berlin. Guest students are welcome.