Research Description
For governments and international organizations, a connection to the Internet and financial networks has become integral to migration, asylum and refugee policy-making. Yet migrants’ up-take has varied widely, leading to crucial questions about how these technologies transform how migrants engage with organizations, state agencies, and the wider communities in which they live. To better understand this transformation, our team is researching:
(1) Digital Connectivity:
The provision of Internet access and information via apps and websites to refugees is an expanding humanitarian relief practice, presented as promoting refugees’ digital citizenship. We are interested in understanding the relationship between the online self-reliance that is encouraged of refugees, and on the ground support provided by humanitarian agencies and state actors. Our research will explore connectivity infrastructure, services provided, narratives associated with getting refugees on the Internet.
(2) Debit Cards:
Debit cards are increasingly used to replace cash dispersal and/or food and clothing distribution in policies that are purported to promote refugees’ financial inclusion and economic literacy. Our project examines how debit cards reconfigure refugees’ daily life and the aid relationship. We are interested in understanding debit cards as products and as sources of data, refugees as clients, and the aid industry.
Academic framing
Conceptually, the GLiTCH project connects research on migration economies, finance and border security, and techno-humanitarianism. The GLiTCH project considers how these technologies are changing humanitarianism, migration and refugee governance and refugees' everyday lives. By including diverse actors from the refugee sector and utilising participatory co-produced research, our project aims to reveal emerging transformations in humanitarian outreach and the new barriers produced by them.
For governments and international organizations, a connection to the Internet and financial networks has become integral to migration, asylum and refugee policy-making. Yet migrants’ up-take has varied widely, leading to crucial questions about how these technologies transform how migrants engage with organizations, state agencies, and the wider communities in which they live. To better understand this transformation, our team is researching:
(1) Digital Connectivity:
The provision of Internet access and information via apps and websites to refugees is an expanding humanitarian relief practice, presented as promoting refugees’ digital citizenship. We are interested in understanding the relationship between the online self-reliance that is encouraged of refugees, and on the ground support provided by humanitarian agencies and state actors. Our research will explore connectivity infrastructure, services provided, narratives associated with getting refugees on the Internet.
(2) Debit Cards:
Debit cards are increasingly used to replace cash dispersal and/or food and clothing distribution in policies that are purported to promote refugees’ financial inclusion and economic literacy. Our project examines how debit cards reconfigure refugees’ daily life and the aid relationship. We are interested in understanding debit cards as products and as sources of data, refugees as clients, and the aid industry.
Academic framing
Conceptually, the GLiTCH project connects research on migration economies, finance and border security, and techno-humanitarianism. The GLiTCH project considers how these technologies are changing humanitarianism, migration and refugee governance and refugees' everyday lives. By including diverse actors from the refugee sector and utilising participatory co-produced research, our project aims to reveal emerging transformations in humanitarian outreach and the new barriers produced by them.
