Paper details

Paper authors	Holly Ritchie
In panel on	Frugal innovations and technology: aiding self-reliance and resilience amongst crisis affected groups?
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

This paper examines the growing influence of Informational Communication Technologies (ICTs) in less certain refugee contexts and the role of civil society groups. Drawing on an empirical case study of Somali refugees in Kenya, the paper explores the grassroots use of ICTs by refugee women and local socio-economic dynamics in processes of inclusion. Adopting a micro-institutional perspective, the discussion looks at the emerging influence of mobile technology on refugee women’s precarious norms related to mobility and work, and the evolution of new digital norms. The paper highlights the strategic role of women’s groups and proactive group members as ‘institutional entrepreneurs’, in aiding levels of ICT adoption amongst group members, motivated by connection, protection and collective enterprise, with potential effects far beyond the group. In a transitory and fragile refugee context however, constraints on civil society may lead to the exclusion of more isolated populations without formal institutional support.

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