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  • © 2018

Digitalization and Public Sector Transformations

Palgrave Macmillan
  • First major study of digitalization from a simultaneously historical, political sociological and multi-level perspective
  • Goes beyond more general accounts of e-governance and data-driven governance by offering a both theoretically sound and empirically detailed argument
  • Adds to international discussions on the crafting of the neoliberal state and contributes to larger international discussions on the re-articulation of contemporary welfare states

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Table of contents (6 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
  2. Introduction

    • Jannick Schou, Morten Hjelholt
    Pages 1-17
  3. Thinking State Transformations Through Cultural Political Economy

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 19-19
    2. Cultural Political Economy

      • Jannick Schou, Morten Hjelholt
      Pages 21-37
    3. State Transformations: A CPE-Perspective

      • Jannick Schou, Morten Hjelholt
      Pages 39-56
  4. Landscapes of Digitalization

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 57-57
    2. Localizing Digitalization: New State Spaces and Local Resistances

      • Jannick Schou, Morten Hjelholt
      Pages 85-106
  5. Towards a Cultural Political Economy of Digitalization

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 107-107
    2. Conclusion

      • Jannick Schou, Morten Hjelholt
      Pages 109-117
  6. Back Matter

    Pages 119-122

About this book

This book provides a study of governmental digitalization, an increasingly important area of policymaking within advanced capitalist states. It dives into a case study of digitalization efforts in Denmark, fusing a national policy study with local institutional analysis. Denmark is often framed as an international forerunner in terms of digitalizing its public sector and thus provides a particularly instructive setting for understanding this new political instrument.

Advancing a cultural political economic approach, Schou and Hjelholt argue that digitalization is far from a quick technological fix. Instead, this area must be located against wider transformations within the political economy of capitalist states. Doing so, the book excavates the political roots of digitalization and reveals its institutional consequences. It shows how new relations are being formed between the state and its citizens.

Digitalization and Public Sector Transformations pushes for a renewed approach to governmental digitalization and will be of interest to scholars working in the intersections of critical political economy, state theory and policy studies.

Authors and Affiliations

  • IT University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Jannick Schou, Morten Hjelholt

About the authors

Jannick Schou is a PhD Fellow at the IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He is part of the research project Data as Relation, funded by the Velux Foundations, and his current research focuses on digital citizenship, state spaces and cultural political economy.

Morten Hjelholt is Associate Professor and Head of DID-LAB at the IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He holds a PhD in political science and has published widely on politics and technology, most recently a book on digital citizenship.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Digitalization and Public Sector Transformations

  • Authors: Jannick Schou, Morten Hjelholt

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76291-3

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-76290-6Published: 25 April 2018

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-09454-6Published: 08 February 2019

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-76291-3Published: 13 April 2018

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XI, 122

  • Topics: Political Sociology, Media Sociology, Social Policy

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access