Projects per year
Abstract / Description of output
Educational inclusion for refugees is increasingly being framed through digital technologies. This is problematically characterised at the macro level by global and national narratives that portray the digital as an external and universal force capable of radical transformation and inclusion, and at the micro level with more nuanced accounts that acknowledge an already-present political economy of technology of everyday practices of (non)adoption, and use. Particularly for refugees, inclusion is further characterised by a persistent liminality with its attendant experiences of transition and tentativeness. Digital inclusion becomes an ongoing act of managing these liminal experiences, noting where barriers exist that stall efforts at further assimilation or reinforce the dominant languages or ideologies, and developing practices, or workarounds, that attempt to move refugees away from the margins of social inclusion. Such a management is inherently a precarious state and one made even more precarious in digital spaces, where inclusion is increasingly intertwined with systems of control and marginalisation. To illustrate this, this paper presents findings from a project exploring educational participation by refugee students in Ugandan universities. It notes the subtle tensions that emerge from the expectations of participation in university life, and Ugandan life more broadly, amidst digital structures and narratives that complicate inclusion. In this paper, we argue that more nuanced conceptualisations of digital inclusion, ones rooted in liminal experiences, are needed to anchor digital technologies in refugee communities.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 309-319 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Social Inclusion |
Volume | 11 |
Issue number | 3 |
Early online date | 4 May 2023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)
- digital inclusion
- higher education
- liminality
- mobile technology
- refugees
- Uganda
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Bidi bidi creativity: The liminality of digital inclusion for refugees in Ugandan higher education'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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Refugee access and participation in higher education in Uganda: the nexus of brokers, barriers, and the digital
Gallagher, M., Najjuma, D. R. & Nambi, D. R.
1/03/21 → 1/03/23
Project: Research
Research output
- 1 Article
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Minimal computing for the forcibly displaced in Uganda: Economies of digital use and non-use, and the right constraints
Akello, M., Gallagher, M., Nanyunja, S., Mulondo, A., Miranda, J-J., Cole, G. & Falisse, J-B., 17 Sept 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Learning, Media and Technology. p. 1-16 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile
Activities
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Practitioner Networks and Digital Inclusion for Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa workshops in Kampala
Michael Gallagher (Organiser) & Peter Evans (Organiser)
Sept 2024Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in workshop, seminar, course
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Moving from raw data to reporting qualitative findings in educational research
Michael Gallagher (Invited speaker)
Aug 2024Activity: Academic talk or presentation types › Invited talk
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Refugee inclusion in higher education in Uganda: discourses, digital technologies, and complexity
Michael Gallagher (Invited speaker) & Sandra Nanyunja (Assessor)
Jun 2024Activity: Academic talk or presentation types › Invited talk