Abstract
Technology challenges social, economic and political borders. This article analyses the role smartphones and social media play in constructing social memory (and consciousness) of bordering practices, examining predominant accounts of migration, de-securitizing and re-humanizing mobility and attaining freedom of movement. Using the case study of the Western Balkans as one of the main transit routes in Europe and building on Stefania Milan’s ‘stealing the fire’ theory, this article investigates transformation of borders from below, as migrants reclaim technology to enable safe passage and create counter-narratives of migration. They do so by contributing to the ‘digital knowledge commons’—a collaborative body of knowledge that can shift restrictive migration policies. The article highlights the importance of studying the technology–mobility nexus, and greater theoretical engagement vis-à-vis the use of technology as a tool for social change, as migration continues to play a pivotal role in political and public debates across the globe.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 211-227 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Theoretical Criminology |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 20 Oct 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 May 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/ or publication of this article: This article is based on research supported by the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (Research Promotion Grant 2014 round).
Funding Information:
The author would like to thank Professor Nancy Wonders and Associate Professor Marie Segrave for their invaluable support and comments that helped shape this paper, from its very inception to the end. She would also like to thank Professor Marie Provine and Dr Giulia Fabini for their remarks in the initial stages of the paper ? they helped a lot in rethinking the directions of the paper and its conceptual engagements. A big thanks also goes to other commentators that reflected on the paper during the Monash University?s Transforming Borders from Below workshop in Prato, Italy in September 2017. Finally, her sincere gratitude goes to the editors of Theoretical Criminology Professor Mary Bosworth and Professor Simon Cole, and the journal?s expert reviewers. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This article is based on research supported by the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (Research Promotion Grant 2014 round).
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2018.
Keywords
- De-securitization
- digital knowledge commons
- illegalized migration
- social change
- technology
