Mediated Lives: Waiting and Hope among Iraqi Refugees in Jordan

Abstract

Using the example of Iraqi refugees in Jordan's capital of Amman, this book describes how information and communication technologies (ICTs) play out in the everyday experiences of urban refugees, geographically located in the Global South, and shows how interactions between online and offline spaces are key for making sense of the humanitarian regime, for carving out a sense of home and for sustaining hope. This book paints a humanizing account of making do amid legal marginalization, prolonged insecurity, and the proliferation of digital technologies.

The Paradox of a Mobile Society: Situating Cultural Studies in the Global South Context

“…As I have shown in the previous sections, both mobilities and immobilities manifest in the digital lifeworld of migrants. This point contributes to a growing body of study that attempts to map the contradictory aspects of transnational and networked lives (Patterson and Leurs, 2020;Ponzanesi, 2019;Twigt, 2022). In this regard, I consider cultural studies, by extending and problematising it in a global South context, as a political and intellectual inquiry that offers new ways and frames to articulate and investigate mobile, digital and transnational cultures.…”

“…In some cases, transnational family members avoid sharing information during a crisis that they find manageable to avoid distressing other family members. Echoing the works of other scholars (Alinejad, 2019;Leurs, 2014;Smets, 2019;Twigt, 2022), I contend that other forms of disconnective practices are fundamental in forging and maintaining relationships and ties beyond borders. Nonetheless, the production of intertwined mobilities and immobilities in a networked and transnational domain can be unpacked by shifting our focus on the consequences of both technological affordances and socio-cultural dimensions.…”

“…This conception has enabled scholars working on the intersections of digital media and migration to consider the impacts of socio-technological influences on digital practices of migrants and their networks. For instance, scholars have considered the everyday familial norms and socio-economic conditions of mobile connective and disconnective practices in transnational familial arrangements (Alinejad, 2019; Leurs, 2014; Twigt, 2022). Further, everyday mobile practices are shaped by care structures and expectations within a local and cultural domain (Baldassar and Merla, 2014; Baldassar et al, 2007; Sinanan and Hjorth, 2018).…”

‘Without technology we’d be very stuck’: Ageing migrants’ differential (im)mobile practices during a lockdown

“…Here, they highlight how technologies enabled the consumption of homeland contents as well as the production, circulation, and consumption of culturally-informed and personalised contents among local and international support networks (Baldassar and Wilding, 2019;Baldassar et al, 2020). Additionally, digital behaviours are shaped by the technological features and affordances of the digital technologies (Cabalquinto, 2022;Madianou and Miller, 2012;Twigt, 2022).…”

Researching (im)mobile lives during a lockdown: Reconceptualizing remote interviews as field events

“…In-person qualitative interviewing has been a staple methodology in conducting research on digital media practices of labor migrants (Ahlin, 2018;Cabalquinto, 2022b;Madianou and Miller, 2012) and refugees (Leung, 2018;Leurs, 2014;Twigt, 2022). Being physically co-present with interlocutors provides the researcher with stories and observations integral to the understanding of people's digital lifeworlds (Leurs and Smets, 2018).…”