Research
Digital Civil Society Lab
Overview
The Digital Civil Society Lab investigates the challenges and opportunities for civil society to thrive in the digital age.
The digital age has expanded the potential for civil society participation, and it has presented new challenges and threats. Our dependencies on digital software and infrastructure that are commercially built and government surveilled require new insights into how these digital systems work and how we can engage them safely, ethically and effectively for civil society’s purposes.
Framework
We engage researchers, practitioners and policymakers across four domains:
- Technology: software and hardware designed for the values and interest of civil society actors
- Organizations: structures and practices that align with civil society missions and protect institutional independence from markets or governments
- Policy: legal practices and regulatory frames that protect the building blocks of civil society, including free association, speech, and privacy
- Norms: social norms and practices that promote safe and ethical data collection, generation, and use
Engage
Opportuntities to engage with the work of the Digital Civil Society Lab in line with its research framework include:
- Participate in on-campus research projects and workshops (by invitation)
- Read publications including books, articles and white papers
- Explore the bibliography of academic literature that informs our team’s research, writing and thinking
- Take courses at Stanford and online
- Apply for postdoctoral or non-resident fellowships
- Attend or watch video of public events and conferences
- Read research updates and reflections on the blog
- Apply for grants for research and sector advancement projects that fit specific criteria (via the Lab’s Digital Impact program)
- Subscribe to research updates and event notifications from the Digital Civil Society Lab