The unintended impacts of I Daniel Blake

Abstract

I Daniel Blake first came to my attention whilst scrolling through the local theatre listings, on what was a fairly drab Saturday afternoon, set aside for data analysis. Many of you will recognise and maybe even appreciate the avoidant behaviours of this early stage researcher. However, in my defence, I am sure that I’ve heard it argued that it is within these avoidant moments that the most useful unintended happenings arise… and arise they did. There was little in the brief synopsis of the Ken Loach film that suggested an epiphany of any kind could occur, or that justified the abandoning of my analysis. In truth I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I just remember being quite curious and booking tickets for what looked like an interesting watch.

Interesting it was. The opening scene (I Daniel Blake Trailer) included a series of intrusive questions, delivered in a manner that even the most saintly amongst us would struggle to ‘hear’. This set the tone for what was an incredibly challenging watch. The story that unfolded stopped me, literally, in my #digitalbydefault tracks! A term that I had become so familiar with through the writing of The LearningWheel Book. Indeed on reflection perhaps far too familiar with.

My encounter with Loach’s work forced me to revisit my responsibilities as a social work academic interested in digitalisation, and to reexamine the idea of knowledge impact relating to my current research project. The study outlined, stemmed from anxieties about the preparedness of the profession to contain and respond to the digital shift, and ironically here I was faced with its realities. Cue justification for my doctoral tardiness. As I navigate this study I remain, more now than ever, acutely aware of the speed of digitalisation and the UK Governments drive to default to the digital by 2020.