Briefing document: How are digital platforms shaping meanings and practices of redistribution in civil society and beyond?

How are digital platforms shaping meanings and practices of redistribution in civil society and beyond? In this briefing document we present key findings from Redistributive Imaginaries: Digitalization, Culture and Prosocial Contribution, a research and knowledge exchange project investigating meanings and practices of redistribution in the context of digitalization. The research data is drawn from fieldwork in the UK, Finland, Montenegro, Spain and Switzerland, carried out between 2023-2025. We interviewed 35 representatives of digital platforms designed to facilitate fundraising for welfare and social causes. We also interviewed 88 individuals who volunteer or work for civil society initiatives that deliver diverse forms of welfare support. We present seven redistributive imaginaries, or collective ways of thinking about societal contribution, social solidarity, and the affordances of the digital. Each redistributive imaginary has been summarized using a persona – a character who condenses ideas, beliefs and ways of thinking that we found expressed by many individuals in the research data. Each persona statement is followed extracts from interview data.