Research Projects
In this section we feature academic research that explores the intricate and sometimes conflicting aspects of how migrants engage with technology. Here, we celebrate the spirit of collaborative knowledge production, showcasing projects that embody interdisciplinary synergy and innovative thinking. Our platform welcomes the insights of early-career scholars and established researchers as well, offering fresh perspectives and advancing the scholarly conversation on migration and technology.
The research projects presented here are independently conceived, conducted, and owned by the scholars themselves. Translocal Lives acts solely as a platform for amplifying their work.
July — Dec, 2021
Digital Leisure Divide and the Forcibly Displaced
By: Amanda Alencar and Payal Arora
The importance of recognizing and understanding the digital leisure activities of forcibly displaced populations, often overlooked in research focused on utility-driven ends, is crucial for creating meaningful humanitarian interventions and ensuring accurate narratives about these communities.
Key words: Digital leisure, forced displaced, refugees, technology, participatory filmmaking
Sept — Oct, 2019
Digital Refugee Livelihoods
By: Julia Camargo and Amanda Alencar
This project aims to advance theoretical understandings of power differentials that are embodied in the use of technologies to promote livelihoods and financial inclusion for refugees. It involves a combination of fieldwork observations, interviews and focus groups to examine technology adoption by Venezuelan women refugees and humanitarian actors in the context of a digital work program in the city of Boa Vista (Brazil).
Key words: Digital work, Digital economy, Refugee livelihoods, Women refugees, Humanitarian agencies
Jan — Dec, 2023
Becoming a Rotterdammer
By: Roel Lutkenhaus
What does it mean for a newcomer 'to thrive'? Is it having a home, a meaningful job, lots of friends? When newcomers feel like they belong in a city, they will feel more at home and their well-being and participation will increase. Through Becoming a Rotterdammer, we seek newcomers who excel in belonging, potentially discovering strategies that hasten their sense of home, which others can emulate.
Key words: Positive deviants, social media, newcomers, bottom-up innovation, action research
Apr, 2016 — Feb, 2020
Digital media and Haitian immigrants
By: Denise Cogo
The research project aims to analysis of counter-hegemonic narratives produced and shared in digital media by Haitian immigrants in Brazil during 2015 and 2017. The analysis demonstrates how these narratives evidence racism experienced by these immigrants residing in Brazil.
Key words: Activism; Digital media; Haitian immigration; Narratives; Racism, Brazil.
Ongoing
(De)constructing peace
By: David Ongenaert
This project examines how mediated peace discourses on the Russian-Ukrainian war are constructed and received. While media narratives shape public and political agendas, their production and impact remain underexplored. Using a multi-method approach, the study analyzes how key stakeholders shape and reinterpret these narratives across media platforms.
Key words: Mediated peace discourses, political communication, news production, media witnessing.
Oct, 2018 — Feb, 2019
Brazilians in Spain
By: Denise Cogo
The purpose of this project is to analyze the communication and transnational activism of Brazilian immigrants in Barcelona, Spain, which can be linked to the current context of economic and political crisis in Brazil, focusing on the collective actions of these immigrants against the impeachment of former President Dilma Rousseff.
Key words: Communication, Brazilian immigration, activism, politics, transnationality, social networks.