{"title":"Humanitarian hacking: Merging refugee aid and digital capitalism","authors":"Sofie Elbæk Henriksen","doi":"10.1093/jrs/feae017","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"\n Hackathons have become popular for helping refugees, among NGOs, volunteers, and corporations but their material impact has been limited. This article explores two Techfugees hackathons in Copenhagen organized with support from Google. The article conceptualizes humanitarian hacking as a space where refugee aid meets digital capitalism by examining the practices of ‘hacking the refugee crisis’ within the analytical framework of critical refugee and humanitarian innovation literature. Rather than providing novel digital solutions, hackathons reproduce existing imaginaries that cast digital technologies as effective, quick-fix solutions; tech companies as innovation experts and humanitarian actors; and refugees as entrepreneurial subjects not in need of aid but of platforms and market opportunities. Thus, while humanitarian hacking has limited impact for the intended beneficiaries, it produces value for hackathon participants and the sponsor organizations. Crucially, humanitarian hacking places tech companies at the forefront of humanitarian aid for refugees and reaffirms humanitarian innovation policy narratives and Silicon Valley corporate humanitarianism.","PeriodicalId":51464,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Refugee Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Refugee Studies","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feae017","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"DEMOGRAPHY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Hackathons have become popular for helping refugees, among NGOs, volunteers, and corporations but their material impact has been limited. This article explores two Techfugees hackathons in Copenhagen organized with support from Google. The article conceptualizes humanitarian hacking as a space where refugee aid meets digital capitalism by examining the practices of ‘hacking the refugee crisis’ within the analytical framework of critical refugee and humanitarian innovation literature. Rather than providing novel digital solutions, hackathons reproduce existing imaginaries that cast digital technologies as effective, quick-fix solutions; tech companies as innovation experts and humanitarian actors; and refugees as entrepreneurial subjects not in need of aid but of platforms and market opportunities. Thus, while humanitarian hacking has limited impact for the intended beneficiaries, it produces value for hackathon participants and the sponsor organizations. Crucially, humanitarian hacking places tech companies at the forefront of humanitarian aid for refugees and reaffirms humanitarian innovation policy narratives and Silicon Valley corporate humanitarianism.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Refugee Studies provides a forum for exploration of the complex problems of forced migration and national, regional and international responses. The Journal covers all categories of forcibly displaced people. Contributions that develop theoretical understandings of forced migration, or advance knowledge of concepts, policies and practice are welcomed from both academics and practitioners. Journal of Refugee Studies is a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal, and is published in association with the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford.