Digital Justice
Overview
This unit confronts students with the stark injustices in the contemporary digital world as manifested in phenomena such as the digital divide and the democratic deficit. It provides an overview of the history of the digital world and engages many of the current challenges posed by algorithmic violence, surveillance capitalism, and digital colonialism. While deeply rooted in the present and looking toward the future, the unit also takes students back a few decades the milieux and ideologies that led to the establishment of cyberspace and, later, to the ‘Internet of things’.
Requisites
50 credit points
31-May-2026
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- 1. Consider, compare, and contrast the liberating and exploitative dimensions of work
- 2. Analyse the relationship between work and equality in societies
- 3. Evaluate how people have shaped societies through their struggles over work
- 4. Construct a framework that reflects on the ethical, social, legal and political aspects of work
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-campus Lecture |
1.00 | 8 weeks | 8 |
| On-campus Class |
2.00 | 8 weeks | 16 |
| On-campus Workshop 1 |
4.00 | 1 week | 4 |
| On-campus Workshop 2 |
4.00 | 1 week | 4 |
| Live Online Workshop |
2.00 | 4 weeks | 8 |
| Specified Activities Various |
2.00 | 10 weeks | 20 |
| Unspecified Activities Independent Learning |
7.5 | 12 weeks | 90 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major Essay | Individual | 45% | 1,2,3,4 |
| Minor Essay | Individual | 30% | 1,2,3 |
| Presentation | Group | 25% | 1,2,3 |
Content
- The meanings of work
- Divisions of labour
- Alienation and control
- Legislating work
- Inequality at work
- Workplace rights
- Precarious work
- Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Verbal communication
- Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Communicating using different media
- Graduate Attribute – Digital Literacies: Information literacy
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.