Lecturer
Contact
Office: 3N1, 3rd floor, Arts (Burns) Building
Email rachel.billington@otago.ac.nz
Background
Completed in 2024, Rachel’s doctoral thesis explored the ways in which adolescents’ identities and political worldviews are informed both by their relationships with others and by the online spheres they inhabit. The project was underpinned by the political theory of recognition à la Hegel and Honneth, and employed interpretive phenomenological analysis, informed by critical theory and continental philosophy traditions. The PhD was placed on the Otago Division of Humanities list of Exceptional Theses 2024.
Research interests
Rachel’s research interests include recognition theory, critical phenomenology, adolescent identity development, social media personalisation and polarisation, and epistemic injustice in the algorithmic era.
Rachel is not currently accepting applications for PhD supervision.
Publications
Billington, R. A., Overell, R., Nicholls, B., Daubs, M. S., & Fowler, C. (2026). “All that from two symbols?!”: An Adolescence roundtable. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1080/10304312.2026.2634362 Journal - Research Article
Billington, R. A. (2026). Adolescence, identity, and the politics of recognition in the social media era: Being and becoming after the algorithmic turn. London, UK: Routledge, 256p. doi: 10.4324/9781003642121 Authored Book - Research
Billington, R. (2025, November). From epistemic bubbles on ontological silos: On polarisation, post-truth, and parallel dimensions. Verbal presentation at the Deepfakes & Society: A Humanities' Approach to the Technology Symposium, Dunedin, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs
Billington, R. (2024). “Social media gave me my life.” Recognition, adolescence, and political identity in the algorithmic era: Coming of age online in Aotearoa (PhD). University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10523/42875 Awarded Doctoral Degree
Billington, R. (2024, February). Recognition, identity, and technojustice in the Algorithmic Age: The affective politics of young people in Aotearoa New Zealand. Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Political Studies Association, Te Kāhui Tātai Tōngorapū o Aotearoa (NZPSA/TKTToA) 2023/24 Annual Conference: The Rising Pacific, Auckland, New Zealand. Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs