Introduction

This chapter outlines some key theoretical directions important for studying writing and literacies in digital cultures. Digital Futures articulates new perspectives concerning the ethical, sensorial, and critical elements of writing and literacies, and contemporary debates at the nexus of literacies and digital rhetoric that have direct relevance to the social construction of authorial identities for youth and other writers in education contexts. Digital Diversity brings together the work of scholars from around the world to address issues of inclusion in contemporary writing and literacies research, from race to gender, and to the geographical displacement of refugees. Digital Spaces shifts the focus to social spaces that discursively shape, and which are shaped by, writing and literacies practices. Digital Ethics debates current ethical concerns associated with the social and ethical risks of children and young people's access to information on the Internet.