Beyond liminality: digital technologies between inclusion and citizenship

This chapter explores the intricate relationship between digital technologies, citizenship and inclusion in liminal spaces—transitional areas marked by marginalisation, vulnerability and continuous change. The study is focused on how liminal communities navigate the balance between exclusion and empowerment through digital participation. The study conceptualises liminal spaces as sites of refiguration resulting from processes of poly-contextualisation, deep mediatisation and translocationalisation. Often situated in the urban peripheries, these communities experience segregated social capital and systemic marginalisation yet simultaneously develop innovative forms of resistance and democratic participation. The research reveals how ‘paternalistic neoliberalism’ appropriates participatory rhetoric while maintaining exclusionary practices. Through an empirical analysis of five liminal communities in Sicily, Calabria and Apulia, the authors demonstrate how digital technologies can be used for inclusion and self-empowerment. These communities develop hybrid participatory processes that combine online and offline engagement to create counter-narratives to dominant neoliberal discourse. The study identifies key factors that enable transformation, including community mobilisation, supportive local governance, openness in the third sector, and communicative ecosystems. The analysis sheds light on how active citizenship can emerge in marginal spaces, challenging traditional notions of national citizenship through participatory practices. While acknowledging digital inequalities and AI-related concerns, the research highlights the potential for technology-mediated democratic innovation in vulnerable communities. It suggests pathways towards more inclusive forms of citizenship that transcend territorial and institutional boundaries.