[Air-L] Special issue call for articles: Refugees and Digital Work

[HACKL Andreas]

Dear colleagues,

Please consider submitting an article proposal for the following special issue:


Call for Articles: Special Issue on Refugees and Digital Work





Aimed at: Development and Change


Digital transformations are currently reshaping labour markets and employment opportunities around the world. Some suggest that online work platforms and the so-called ‘gig economy’ are now planetary in scope, promising access to work for anyone with an internet connection and some skills. However, to what extent does that hold true for the world’s refugees?


Parallel to this spread of digital opportunities, refugee self-reliance has now become one of the leading mantras in global refugee governance and international development. A plethora of programmes and initiatives have therefore tapped into a pool of digital opportunities for livelihood provision and skills training among displaced persons and host communities. However, their scope, methods, and outcomes remain underexplored in both academia and policy.


This special issue will explore the diverse implications of this transformation on refugees, who often face severe restrictions to economic activity, financial inclusion, and a limited right to work. Particular consideration will be given to critical contributions that are rooted in empirical research and offer insights linking important debates in the international development literature on refugee economies, livelihoods, and digital work.


Articles might address one of the following questions: What do particular case studies tell us about the unique relationship between forced displacement and digital economies? How does the inclusion of refugees, and a perspective grounded in their experience, change established views on digital economies and the future of decent work? How do digital economies reshape the role of work within increasingly prolonged conditions of forced displacement? What are the risks and opportunities of digital work for refugees?

Other themes articles might address may include the following:

  *   Digital refugee livelihoods and the decent work agenda
  *   Digital skills training or remote job-mentoring
  *   Freelancing and online entrepreneurialism
  *   Working conditions and social protection
  *   Informal means of digital work (e.g. social media platforms)
  *   Refugees’ involvement in the informal or illicit digital economy
  *   Gender dimensions of digital work
  *   Barriers to digital access and/or financial inclusion
  *   The interaction between host country legal and social environments and digital economies

These questions and issues are for guidance only and should not be considered exclusive of other important themes.


Deadlines



If you are interested in contributing to this issue, please submit the following to the issue editors by Friday, January 10, 2020:



  *   A 500-750 word abstract including main research question, details on the empirical research, theoretical contribution, research methods, main findings, and conclusions
  *   Author CV





Tentative deadline for full-length articles: May 2020





Special issue editors:



Dr Andreas Hackl, Social Anthropology, University of Edinburgh

Andreas.hackl at ed.ac.uk<mailto:Andreas.hackl at ed.ac.uk>



Dr Evan Easton-Calabria, Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford

Evan.easton-calabria at qeh.ox.ac.uk<mailto:Evan.easton-calabria at qeh.ox.ac.uk>




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Dr Andreas Hackl
Lecturer, Social Anthropology
School of Social and Political Science
University of Edinburgh, UK


The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.