PS-15: Divides (Chair: Christoph Lutz)

The Empowered Refugee: The Smartphone as a Tool of Resistance on the Journey to Europe

Katja Kaufmann

For those of you from other continents we had a great deal of refugees coming to Europe last year, from Turkey, Syria, etc. who were travelling to Germany, Sweden, and Vienna – where I am from – was also a hub. Some of these refugees had smartphones and that was covered in the (right wing) press about this, criticising this group’s ownership of devices but it was not clear how many had smartphones, how they were being used and that’s what I wanted to look at.

So we undertook interviews with refugees to see if they used them, how they used them. We were researching empowerment by mobile phones, following Svensson and Wamala Larsson (2015) on the role of the mobile phone in transforming capacilities of users. Also with reference to N. Kabeer (1999), A. Sen (1999) etc. on meanings of empowerment in these contexts. Smith, Spend and Rashid (2011) describe mobiles and their networs altering users capability sets, and about phone increasing access to flows of information (Castell 2012).

So, I wanted to identify how smartphones were empowering refugees through: gaining an advantage in knowledge by the experiences of other refugees; sensory information; cross-checking information; and capabilities to opposse actions of others.

In terms of an advantage in knowledge refugees described gaining knowledge from previous refugees on reports, routes, maps, administrative processes, warnings, etc. This was through social networks and Facebook groups in particular. So, a male refugee (age 22) described which people smugglers cannot be trusted, and which can. And another (same age) felt that smart phones were essential to being able to get to Europe – because you find information, plan, check, etc.

So, there was retrospective knowledge here, but also engagement with others during their refugee experience and with those ahead on their journey. This was mainly in WhatsApp. So a male refugee (aged 24) described being in Macedonia and speaking to refugees in Serbia, finding out the situation. This was particularly important last year when approaches were changes, border access changed on an hour by hour basis.

In terms of Applying Sensory Abilities, this was particularly manifested in identifying own GPS position – whilst crossing the Aegean or woods. Finding the road with their GPS, or identifying routes and maps. They also used GPS to find other refugees – friends, family members… Using location based services was also very important as they could share data elsewhere – sending GPS location to family members in Sweden for instance.

In terms of Cross-checking information and actions, refugees were able to track routes whilst in the hand of smugglers. A male Syrian refugee (aged 30) checked information every day whilst with people smugglers, to make sure that they were being taken in the right direction – he wanted to head west. But it wasn’t just routes, it was also weather condiions, also rumous, and cross-checking weather conditions before entering a boat. A female Syrian refugee downloaded an app to check conditions and ensure her smuggler was honest and her trip would be safer.

In terms of opposing actions of others, this was about being capable of opposing actions of others – orders of authorities, potential acts of (police) violence, risks, fraud attempts, etc. Also disobedience by knowledge – the Greek government gave orders about the borders, but smartphones allowed annotated map sharing that allowed orders to be disobeyed. And access to timely information – exchange rates for example – a refugee described negotiating price of changing money down by Google searching for this. And opposition was also about a means to apply pressure – threatening with or publishing photos. A male refugee (aged 25) described holding up phones to threaten to document policy violence, and that was impactful. Also some refugees took pictures of people smugglers as a form of personal protection and information exchange, particularly with publication of images as a threat held in case of mistreatment.

So, in summary the smartphones

Q&A

Q1) Did you have any examples of privacy concerns in your interviews, or was this a concern for later perhaps?

A1) Some mentioned this, some felt some apps and spaces are more scrutinised than others. There was concern that others may have been identified through Facebook – a feeling rather than proof. One said that they do not send their parents any pictures in case she was mistaken by Syrian government as a fighter. But mostly privacy wasn’t an immediate concern, access to information was – and it was very succesful.

Q2) I saw two women in the data here, were there gender differences?

A2) We tried to get more women but there were difficulties there. On the journey they were using smartphones in similar ways – but I did talk to them and they described differences in use before their journey and talked about picture taking and sharing, the hijab effect, etc.

Social media, participation, peer pressure, and the European refugee crisis: a force awakens? – Nils Gustafsson, Lund university, Sweden

My paper is about receiving/host nations. Sweden took in 160,000 refugees during the crisis in 2015. I wanted to look at this as it was a strange time to live in. A lot of people started coming in late summer and early autumn… Numbers were rising. At first response was quite enthusiastic and welcoming in host populations in Germany, Austria, Sweden. But as it became more difficult to cope with larger groups of people, there were changes and organising to address challenge.

And the organisation will remind you of Alexander (??) on the “logic of collective action” – where groups organise around shared ideas that can be joined, ideas, almost a brand, e.g. “refugees welcome”. And there were strange collaborations between government, NGOs, and then these ad hoc networks. But there was also a boom and bust aspect here… In Sweden there were statements about opening hearts, of not shutting borders… But people kept coming through autumn and winter… By December Denmark, Sweden, etc. did a 180 degree turn, closing borders. There were border controls between Denmark and Sweden for the first time in 60 years. And that shift had popular support. And I was intrigued about this. And this work is all part of a longer 3 year project on young people in Sweden and their political engagement – how they choose to engage, how they respond to each other. We draw on Bennett & Segerberg (2013), social participation, social psychology, and the notion of “latent participation” – where people are waiting to engage so just need asking to mobilise.

So, this is work in progress and I don’t know where it will go… But I’ll share what I have so far. And I tried to focus on recruitment – I am interested in when young people are recruited into action by their peers. I am interested in peer pressure here – friends encouraging behaviours, particularly important given that we develop values as young people that have lasting impacts. But also information sharing through young people’s networks…

So, as part of the larger project, we have a survey, so we added some specific questions about the refugee crisis to that. So we asked, “you remember the refugee crisis, did you discuss it with your friends?” – 93.5% had, and this was not surprising as it is a major issue. When we asked if they had discussed it on social media it was around 33.3% – much lower perhaps due to controversy of subject matter, but this number was also similar to those in the 16-25 year old age group.

We also asked whether they did “work” around the refugee crisis – volunteering or work for NGOs, traditional organisations. Around 13.8% had. We also asked about work with non-traditional organisations and 26% said that they had (and in 16-25% age group, it was 29.6%), which seems high – but we have nothing to compare this too.

Colleagues and I looked at Facebook refugee groups in Sweden – those that were open – and I looked at and scraped these (n=67) and I coded these as being either set up as groups by NGOs, churches, mosques, traditional organisations, or whether they were networks… Looking across autumn and winter of 2015 the posts to these groups looked consistent across traditional groups, but there was a major spike from the networks around the crisis.

We have also been conducting interviews in Malmo, with 16-19 and 19-25 year olds. They commented on media coverage, and the degree to which the media influences them, even with social media. Many commented on volunteering at the central station, receiving refugees. Some felt it was inspiring to share stories, but others talked about their peers doing it as part of peer pressure, and critical commenting about “bragging” in Facebook posts. Then as the mood changed, the young people talked about going to the central station being less inviting, on fewer Facebook posts… about feeling that “maybe it’s ok then”. One of our participants was from a refugee background and ;;;***

Q&A

Q1) I think you should focus on where interest drops off – there is a real lack of research there. But on the discussion question, I wasn’t surprised that only 30% discussed the crisis there really.

A1) I wasn’t too surprised

Q2) I am from Finland, and we also helped in the crisis, but I am intrigued at the degree of public turnaround as it hasn’t shifted like that in Finland.

A2) Yeah, I don’t know… The middleground changed. Maybe something Swedish about it… But also perhaps to do with the numbers…

Q2) I wonder… There was already a strong anti-immigrant movement from 2008, I wonder if it didn’t shift in the same way.

A2) Yes, I think that probably is fair, but I think how the Finnish media treated the crisis would also have played a role here too.

An interrupted history of digital divides – Bianca Christin Reisdorf, Whisnu Triwibowo, Michael Nelson, William Dutton, Michigan State University, United States of America

I am going to switch gears a bit with some more theoretical work. We have been researching internet use and how it changes over time – from a period where there was very little knowledge of or use of the internet to the present day. And I’ll give some background than talk about survey data – but that is an issue of itself… I’ll be talking about quantitative survey data as it’s hard to find systematic collection of qualitative research instruments that I could use in my work.

So we have been asking about internet use for over 20 years… And right now I have data from Michigan, the UK, and the US… I have also just received further data from South Africa (this week!).

When we think about Digital Inequality the idea of the digital divide emerged in the late 1990s – there was government interest, data collection, academic work. This was largely about the haves vs. have-nots; on vs. off. And we saw a move to digital inequalities (Hargittai) in the early 2000s… Then it went quite aside from work from Neil Selwyn in the UK, from Helsper and Livingstone… But the discussion has moved onto skills…

Policy wise we have also seen a shift… Lots of policies around digital divide up to around 2002, then a real pause as there was an assumption that problems would be solved. Then, in the US at least, Obama refocused on that divide from 2009.

So, I have been looking at data from questionnaires from Michigan State of the State Survey (1997-2016); questionnaires from digital future survey in the US (2000, 2002, 2003, 2014); questionnaires from the Oxford Internet Surveys in the UK (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013); Hungarian World Internet Project (2009); South African World Internet Project (2012).

Across these data sets we have looked at questionnaires and frequency of use of particular questions here on use, on lack of use, etc. When internet penetration was less high there was a lot of explanation in questions, but we have shifted away from that, so that we assume that people understand that… And we’ve never returned to that. We’ve shifted to devices questions, but we don’t ask other than that. We asked about number of hours online… But that increasingly made less sense, we do that less as it is essentially “all day” – shifting to how frequently they go online though.

Now the State of the State Survey in Michigan is different from the other data here – all the others are World Internet Project surveys but SOSS is not looking at the same areas as not interent researchers neccassarily. In Hungary (2009 data) similar patterns of question use emerged, but particular focus on mobile use. But the South African questionnaire was very different – they ask how many people in the household is using the internet – we ask about the individual but not others in the house, or others coming to the house. South Africa has around 40% penetration of internet connection (at least in 2012 when we have data here), that is a very different context. There they ask for lack of access and use, and the reasons for that. We ask about use/non-use rather than reasons.

So there is this gap in the literature, there is a need for quantitative and qualitative methods here. We also need to understand that we need to consider other factors here, particularly technology itself being a moving target – in South Africa they ask about internet use and also Facebook – people don’t always identify Facebook as internet use. Indeed so many devices are connected – maybe we need

Q&A

Q1) I have a question about the questionnaires – do any ask about costs? I was in Peru and lack of connections, but phones often offer free WhatsApp and free Pokemon Go.

A1) Only the South African one asks that… It’s a great question though…

Q2) You can get Pew questionnaires and also Ofcom questionnaires from their website. And you can contact the World Internet Project directly… And there is an issue with people not knowing if they are on the internet or not – increasingly you ask a battery of questions… and then filtering on that – e.g. if you use email you get counted as an internet user.

A2) I have done that… Trying to locate those questionnaires isn’t always proving that straightforward.

Q3) In terms of instruments – maybe there is a need to developmore nuanced questionnaires there.

A3) Yes.

Levelling the socio-economic playing field with the Internet? A case study in how (not) to help disadvantaged young people thrive online – Huw Crighton Davies, Rebecca Eynon, Sarah Wilkin, Oxford Internet Institute, United Kingdom

This is about a scheme called the “Home Access Scheme” and I’m going to talk about why we could not make it work. The origins here was a city council’s initiative – they came to us. DCLG (2016) data showed 20-30% of the population were below the poverty line, and we new around 7-8% locally had no internet access (known through survey responses). And the players here were researchers, local government, schools, and also an (unnamed) ISP.

The aim of the scheme was to raise attainment in GCSEs, to build confidence, and to improve employability skills. The Schools had a responsibility to identify students in need at school, to procure laptops, memory sticks and software, provide regular, structured in-school pastoral skills and opportunities – not just in computing class. The ISP was to provide set up help, technical support, free internet connections for 2 years.

This scheme has been running two years, so where are we? Well we’ve had successes: preventing arguments and conflict; helped with schoolwork, job hunting; saved money; and improved access to essential services – this is partly as cost cutting by local authorities have moved transactions online like bidding for council housing, repeat prescription etc. There was also some intergenerational bonding as families shared interests. Families commented on the success and opportunities.

We did 25 interiews, 84 1-1 sessions in schools, 3 group workshops, 17 ethnographic visits, plus many more informal meet ups. So we have lots of data about these families, their context, their lives. But…

Only three families had consistent internet access throughout. Only 8 families are still in the programme. It fell apart… Why?

Some schools were so nervous about use that they filtered and locked down their laptops. One school used the scheme money to buy teacher laptops, gave students old laptops instead. Technical support was low priority. Lead teachers left/delegated/didn’t answer emails. Very narrow use of digital technology. No in-house skills training. Very little cross-curriculum integration. Lack of ICT classes after year 11. And no matter how often we asked about it we got no data from schools.

The ISP didn’t set up collections, didn’t support the families, didn’t do what they had agreed to. They tried to bill families and one was threatened with debt collectors!

So, how did this happen? Well maybe these are neoliberalist currents? I use that term cautiously but… We can offer an emergent definition of neoliberalism from this experience.

There is a neoliberalist disfigurement of schools: teachers under intense pressue to meet auditable targets; the scheme’s students subject to a range of targets used to problematise a school’s performance – exclusions, attendance, C grades; the scheme shuffled down priorities; ICT not deemed academic enough under Govian school changes; and learning is stribbed back to narrow range of subjects and focus towards these targets.

There were effects of neoliberalism on the city council: targets and “more for less” culture; scheme disincentivised; erosion of authority of democratic institutional councils – schools beyond authority controls, and high turn over of staff.

There were neoliberalist practices at the ISP: commodifying philanthropy; couldn’t not treat families as customers. And there were dysfunctional mini-markets: they subcontracted delivery and set up; they subcontracted support; they charged for support and charged for internet even if they couldn’t help…

Q&A

Q1) Is the problem digital divides but divides… Any attempt to overcome class separation and marketisation is working against the attempts to fix this issue here.

A1) We have a paper coming and yes, there were big issues here for policy and a need to be holistic… We found parents unable to attend parents evening due to shift work, and nothing in the school processes to accommodate this. And the measure of poverty for children is “free school meals” but many do not want to apply as it is stigmatising, and many don’t qualify even on very low incomes… That leads to children and parents being labelled disengaged or problematic

Q2) Isn’t the whole basis of this work neoliberal though?]

A2) I agree. We didn’t set the terms of this work..

Panel Q&A

Q1/comment) RSE and access

A1 – Huw) Other companies the same

Q2) Did the refugees in your work Katja have access to Sim cards and internet?

A2 – Katja) It was a challenge. Most downloaded maps and resources… And actually they preferred Apple to Android as the GPS is more accurate without an internet connection – that makes a big difference in the Aegean sea for instance. So refugees shared sim cards, used power banks for the energy.

Q3) I had a sort of reflection on Nils’ paper and where to take this next… It occurs to me that you have quite a few different arguements… You have this survey data, the interviews, and then a different sort of participation from the Facebook groups… I have students in Berlin here looking at the boom and bust – and I wondered about that Facebook group work being worth connecting up to that type of work – it seems quite separate to the youth participation section.

A3 – Nils) I wasn’t planning on talking about that, but yes.

Comment) I think there is a really interesting aspect of these campaigns and how they become part of social media and the everyday life online… The way they are becoming engaged… And the latent participation there…

Q3) I can totally see that, though challenging to cover in one article.

Q4) I think it might be interesting to talk to the people who created the surveys to understand motivations…

A4) Absolutely, that is one of the reasons I am so keen to hear about other surveys.

Q5) You said you were struggling to find qualitative data?

A5 – Katja) You can usually download quantitative instruments, but that is harder for qualitative instruments including questions and interview guides…

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