Technologies of Refuge and Displacement ― Rethinking Digital Divides

This book explores access to and use of technology from the perspective of those on the ’wrong’ side of the digital divide, examining refugees as a group that has received scant attention as technology users, in spite of their need for technology as a means to maintaining links with family during displacement. Drawing from interview and survey material with over a hundred refugees, the author interrogates well-known theories regarding technology and users of technology, in order to rethink the taken-for-granted model of the ’digital divide’ and offer alternative ways of conceptualizing technological literacy and access. With its focus on communities and situations in which there is high need but little availability and difficult of access to relevant ICTs, Technologies of Refuge and Displacement asks how it might it be possible to design technology services that are appropriate for and inclusive of groups such as refugees. Exploring the ways in which principles from design and the IT industries can be applied to contexts in which availability, access and affordability are restricted, this volume investigates the possibilities that exist for providing services that accommodate users with limited technical and language literacies. As such, it will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interests in migration, science and technology studies, digital divides and refugee organisation and advocacy.

Linda Leung is Senior Lecturer at the Institute for Interactive Media and Learning and Associate Professor in the School of Software at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. She is the author of Virtual Ethnicity: Race, Resistance and the World Wide Web and Digital Experience Design: Ideas, Industries, Interaction .