Digital Exclusion or Digital Rejection? Exploring the Rejection of Digitalised Social Rights by Racialised Individuals with Migration Backgrounds in the UK

Bailey, Sara; FitzGerald, Elizabeth; Kukulska-Hulme, Agnes and Rets, Irina (2024). Digital Exclusion or Digital Rejection? Exploring the Rejection of Digitalised Social Rights by Racialised Individuals with Migration Backgrounds in the UK. In: British Sociological Association Annual Conference 2024, 3-5 Apr 2024, Online.

Abstract

In the context of the digitalisation of social rights across the world – a process accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic – a growing body of research sets out to examine the societal implications of this phenomenon, especially for marginalised communities. These studies have found that many marginalised individuals are unable to use digital channels to access social rights because of barriers such as digital poverty and inadequate digital literacy; as such, these individuals could be conceptualised as being 'involuntarily excluded' from digitalised social rights. However, few of these studies have looked specifically at the experiences of racialised individuals with a migration background. This article aims to address this gap. Drawing on 100 interviews, we explore the lived experiences of racialised individuals with migration backgrounds of digitalised primary healthcare and social housing. A key finding that emerged from this study was the phenomenon of ‘voluntary non-use’ of digitalised social rights. This concept describes a situation in which individuals choose not to use digital channels to access social rights, even though they have the resources and skills to do so. We identify and explore a number of factors underlying ‘voluntary non-use’, including data security concerns and the perception that it is more difficult to negotiate access to social rights digitally than through ‘traditional’ channels such as the telephone. Our findings have implications for policy makers, and for research taking place at the intersection between citizenship studies and digital sociology.

Viewing alternatives

Download history

Item Actions

Export

About