Humanitarian Media Intervention: Infrastructuring in Times of Forced Migration

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Abstract

This article examines how grassroots digital infrastructures developed during the European refugee crisis enabled communication access in refugee shelters and reception centres. Drawing on qualitative research, the authors analyze the initiative “Freifunk for Refugees” as an entanglement of forced migration, humanitarian response, and attempts to expand alternative sociotechnical imaginaries. The study highlights the infrastructural labor involved in establishing connectivity and the broader political implications of volunteer-driven humanitarian media interventions.

Citation

Kubitschko, Sebastian, and Tim Schütz. 2017.
“Humanitarian Media Intervention: Infrastructuring in Times of Forced Migration.”
spheres: Journal for Digital Cultures.
https://spheres-journal.org/contribution/humanitarian-media-intervention-infrastructuring-in-times-of-forced-migration/