Paper details
| Paper authors | Susanne Jaspars, C.Sathyamala, Tamer Abd ElKreem, Iris Lim, Somjita Laha |
| In panel on | Governing digital risks in humanitarian action |
| Paper presenter(s) will be presenting | In-Person & Online |
Abstract
Risks in digital food assistance include those of exclusion and surveillance (for economic or political purposes), affecting in particular migrants and displaced populations, and as such has the potential to feed into inequalities and exacerbate crisis. This applies to food assistance and social welfare programmes in countries in the Global North as well as the Global South. In conflict or political volatility, network shutdowns provide additional risks if the population is dependent on digital networks. In this paper, we ask how did these risks evolve. Based on preliminary observations in our study on the ‘digitalisation of food assistance’, we argue that the digitalisation of food assistance and associated risks can be linked the introduction of individualised and market-oriented approaches in welfare and aid, following global trends in food crisis, financialisation and the adoption of neoliberal forms of governance. These changes are also reflected locally, and we provide examples of Sudan, India and the UK. Finally, we will consider the implications of this historical trajectory and its consequences for food security and social welfare in each of these contexts.
