Open this publication in new window or tab >>2016 (English)In: Citizenship Studies, ISSN 1362-1025, E-ISSN 1469-3593, Vol. 20, no 6-7, p. 914-931Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
The present article concerns Estonian e-government, that is, the digitalization of government and public administration, and the way e-government produces a moral citizen. Although several case studies on e-government exist, they have seldom been sensitive to the local conditions shaping the functions and social meaning of digitalization. E-government involves producing knowledge, and the present article draws on a theoretical perspective that stresses the tight relationship between knowledge and power. In Estonia, the power–knowledge regime is characterized by centralization. Centralization is the condition for a firm national e-government policy, and within this policy, an image of the unique Estonian citizenry is produced. The Estonian moral citizen who emerges out of e-government is de-politicized and detached from a social context, on the one hand, and strongly politicized and attached to a specific ethno-national community, on the other.
Keywords
e-government, Estonia, Moral citizenship, post-communist conditions, power–knowledge regime
National Category
Political Science
Research subject
Politics, Economy and the Organization of Society; Baltic and East European studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-30811 (URN)10.1080/13621025.2016.1213222 (DOI)000381500300015 ()2-s2.0-84980350907 (Scopus ID)584/42/2012 (Local ID)584/42/2012 (Archive number)584/42/2012 (OAI)
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, A051-2012
2016-09-012016-09-012025-10-07Bibliographically approved