Abstract
In this chapter we argue that a feminist new materialist perspective provides a promising theoretical lens for understanding critical literacy learning through Wikipedia-based writing projects. Employing feminist new materialist theories of intra-action and lively assemblage, we examine the ways that college students compose Wikipedia articles to address the encyclopedia’s systemic biases, especially those related to misrepresentation and uneven coverage of women and minorities. More specifically, we attend to how students work together to identify marginalized topics on Wikipedia, evaluate the coverage of multiple perspectives in these Wikipedia articles, analyze information gaps and biases, and contribute knowledge to the global Wikipedia community. The Wikipedia-based writing project, featuring the entanglement of human agents and digital technologies, challenges students to create sociomaterial assemblages that entice bodies into collective actions against the proliferation of problematic information within and beyond the encyclopedia. We ultimately contend that feminist new materialist perspectives add new vigor to the current theories and practices surrounding critical media literacy and conclude this chapter by envisioning the possibility of encouraging conscious use of the encyclopedia to more fully address the epistemic challenges of Wikipedia-based education.
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Jiang, J., Vetter, M.A. (2021). Writing Against the ‘Epistemology of Deceit’ on Wikipedia: A Feminist New Materialist Perspective Towards Critical Media Literacy and Wikipedia-Based Education. In: MacKenzie, A., Rose, J., Bhatt, I. (eds) The Epistemology of Deceit in a Postdigital Era. Postdigital Science and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72154-1_9
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