Digital livelihoods? The online gig economy and the future of decent refugee work in cities

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This project aims to explore the contribution of digitally mediated labour to the provision of decent work and livelihoods among displaced persons in cities, with a focus on Berlin and Beirut. Both these cities are leading hubs for digital innovation and have recently absorbed large numbers of refugees, prompting a growth in digital work initiatives. These emerged against the backdrop of a growing online 'gig economy' around the world amid an increasingly urban and 'connected' displaced population: more than 60 percent of the world's refugees now live in cities.These combined factors of urbanised refugee economies and the digitalisation of work demand urgent research into the relationship between the online gig economy and displaced populations. Yet despite a growing body of research on digital economies in development contexts, it is poorly understood how the online gig economy reshapes the world of work among displaced persons. Aiming to fill this knowledge gap in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), and hosted by the University of Edinburgh, this project pursues three research objectives:a) Generate empirical evidence about the digitally mediated work lives of refugees through fieldwork in Berlin and Beirut;b) Gain insights through research of selected digital platforms that offer digital work opportunities and employment trainings;c) Establish a new methodological framework that links ethnography with multidisciplinary methods in the social sciences of the digital, and develop new research skills through trainings.In fulfilment of these research objectives, the project follows two overarching questions:1) How does digitally mediated labour reshape refugees' access to decent work and sustainable livelihoods?2) What implications do these transformations have for the rights and policies that govern urban refugee economies, and for the way displacement is conceptualised in the social sciences?These overarching questions are complemented by three empirical sub-questions that correspond directly to the research objectives and three methodological dimensions:a) What types of digitally mediated work do refugees do, how do they get access to it, and what impact does it have on their social and economic lives?b) How do digital work platforms relate to the specific situation of displaced populations, and what impact do they pursue in comparison to the actual experiences of refugee workers?c) What new combinations of qualitative ethnographic research and digital research methods allow us to grasp how digital economies and refugees' working practices intersect and overlap?In line with the New Investigator Grant's aims, the project pursues additional objectives on two levels: skills development and impact.Skills development objectives include completion of a leadership programme at the host institution; the development of new approaches and methods during a three-months visit to the Oxford Internet Institute (OII); and the learning of effective user engagement by collaborating with the ILO and providers of digital work opportunities in the third sector and the private sector. The knowledge exchange and impact objectives include convening a workshop and an international conference with key users at the host institution; production of high-quality research outputs, including an ILO Working Paper, with impact on both users and academic beneficiaries; the creation of a project website and a Briefing for policy makers and platform developers titled 'A Just Gig Economy for Refugees'.The newly gained skills, networks and knowledge throughout this project will facilitate the creation of sustainable research capacity at the host institution through follow-up funding applications with a clear long-term aim in mind: the formation of a research cluster on 'Digital Development' at Edinburgh's School of Social and Political Science.