Attention for the role of digital media in processes of migration has grown considerably in the last years. The focus has remained in particular on the representation of migration. In the wake of the long summer of migration in Europe in 2015, news reporters for example commonly focused on smartphone carrying and selfie-taking refugees. In the last years, across the world, migration is increasingly securitized. Data driven solutions are embraced by governments and humanitarian agencies for efficient forms of border control, surveillance and migration management. In this salon, Karina Horsti, Henri Mainsah, and Koen Leurs address how digital technologies and datafication are impacting upon forced migration. How do those on the move experience digital technologies? How do they curate their own stories on their own portable devices and social media profiles? How do they circulate their own memories and testimonies? How do transnational families use mobile technology to manage uncertainties of disappearance, death and mourning? How do monitored forced migrants themselves experience digital enforcement and surveillance capitalism? How do they imagine that the images and other data extracted from their cellphones can be used against them, their families, or communities? How can we understand and map the socio-technical landscape that shapes the deployment of forms of extractive surveillance capitalism?
Dr. Karina Horsti is Senior Lecturer at the University of Jyväskylä. Since 2000, she has developed a multidisciplinary profile in transnational migration research by successfully completing research on cultural diversity policies, nationalist populism, and mediated representations of refugees and asylum seekers.
Dr. Koen Leurs is an assistant professor in Gender and Postcolonial Studies at the Graduate Gender Program, Department of Media and Culture, Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Leurs interests include media and diaspora; social media and urban youth culture, identity and the city; infrastructures, data and digital archives. His next book is titled Digital Migration Studies, forthcoming with Sage.
Dr Henri Mainsah is a senior researcher at Consumption Research Norway (SIFO), Oslo Metropolitan University, and was previously Associate Professor at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. His research interests include urban technologies, social media, smart living, place-making practices, creative research methods, participatory design, and new literacies.