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Craig Bateman

Email: craig.bateman@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk

Thesis Title

Care and Relationality in the Digital Age: Can an Ethic of Care Resolve the Problem of Online Harms

Institution

The University of Manchester

Supervisors

Dr Ann Whittle
Dr Stephen Ingram

Research Summary

Around the world, governments are in search of answers to the proliferation of online harms which are devastating their societies and leading to crises in mental health – with high-profile cases of suicide among internet-trapped teenagers in recent years. My project formulates a moral-political framework through which these harms can be addressed. It does so by critically appraising the ethics of care, an approach to moral decision making formulated by the psychologist Carol Gilligan in her 1982 book, ‘In a Different Voice.’ The aim of the project, as it has matured, has been to motivate a different way of doing ethics, rooted in recognition of the importance of relationality, receptivity, and responsiveness (Noddings, 1986, p. 2). This constitutes the first sustained analysis of the significance of care ethics in addressing online harms.

Research Interests

Care Ethics
Social Media
Internet Studies
Political Philosophy
Epistemology
Feminism

Publications

London’s Emerging Shadow Education Sector – Cause for Concern or the Basis of Success. Department of Social Policy Blog. London School of Economics (2019).

Aristotle and the Twittersphere. The Foundation Journal. St Chad’s College. Durham (2018).

How to Leverage the Democratic Potential of Social Media to Cultivate Global Citizens. Wise Qatar. Qatar Foundation (2017).

Sexual Inequalities: A Queer Critique of Brazil’s ‘Bolsa Familia’ Programme. The Public Sphere Journal. London School of Economics (2020).

Student profiles

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