In the last decade, digital media technologies and developments have given rise to exciting new forms of ludic, or playful, engagements of citizens in cultural and societal issues. From the Occupy movement to playful city-making to the gameful designs of the Obama 2008 and Trump 2016 presidential campaigns, and the rise of citizen science and ecological games, this book shows how play is a key theoretical, methodological, and practical principle for comprehending such new forms of civic engagement in a mediatized culture. The Playful Citizen explores how and through what media we are becoming more playful as citizens and how this manifests itself in our ways of doing, living, and thinking. We offer a pluralistic answer to such questions by bringing together scholars from different fields such as game and play studies, social sciences, and media and culture studies.

Contributions by: Jeroen Jansz, Joyce Neys, Stefan Werning, William Uricchio, Joost Raessens, Anne-Marie Schleiner, Ingrid Hoofd, Liz Barry, Don Blair, Jessica Breen, Shannon Dosemagen, Jennifer Gabrys, Stephanie de, René Glas, Sybille Lammes, Daniel Harmsen, Ben Schouten, Erik van der, Anne Dippel, Sonia Fizek, Mercedes Bunz, Sam Hind, Eric Gordon, Stephen Walter, Douglas Rushkoff, Michiel de, Mark Deuze, Lindsay Ems, Alex Gekker, Imar Vries