ReDigIm is a research project that explores meanings and practices of redistribution in the context of digitalisation.
Across Europe, citizens are increasingly using digital tools such as websites, apps, payment technologies and social media to give, share and donate. These forms of prosocial contribution point to new forms of civic participation, solidarity and care for others, but they also disrupt established state-imposed forms of social provision and raise questions about the future of tax systems in European welfare states.
ReDigIm explores how citizens engage in prosocial contributions amidst these new digital opportunities. The project explores the collective notions of redistribution that underlie and give meaning to these practices.
The ReDigIm team consists of 12 researchers with expertise in sociology, anthropology and media and cultural studies, working at five universities. In addition to the JGU team, the other researchers are located in London (University of the Arts London), Barcelona (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Finland (University of Lapland) and Switzerland (University of Zurich).
ReDigIm follows a mixed-methods approach that includes discourse analysis, analysis of the possibilities of digital platforms, field research with civil society groups and workshops to develop scenarios with stakeholders. The Mainz team consists of cultural and social anthropologists who are investigating forms of prosocial giving in Montenegro. During a ten-month research stay in Montenegro, they will investigate how practices of redistribution are shaped and changed by digitalisation.
The research team is working in close partnership with five collaborating partners, mostly NGOs that play a key role in defining, developing and disseminating the research findings.