Overview

The Information Systems Journal (ISJ) is an international journal promoting the study of, and interest in, information systems. Articles are welcome on research, practice, experience, current issues and debates. The ISJ encourages submissions that reflect the wide and interdisciplinary nature of the subject and articles that integrate technological disciplines with social, contextual and management issues, based on research using appropriate research methods. The ISJ has particularly built its reputation by publishing qualitative research and it continues to welcome such papers. Quantitative research papers are also welcome but they need to emphasise the context of the research and the theoretical and practical implications of their findings. The ISJ does not publish purely technical papers.

At the ISJ, we encourage the submission of research articles that problematise and investigate urgent organizational, management and societal phenomena. We are interested in research that goes beyond the economic perspective and considers the interests and concerns of multiple stakeholders. It is not enough to do the research well (i.e., methodological rigour); the research should also be worth doing (i.e., research problems that have the potential to address the grand challenges we face). We will be proactive in publishing research that we believe has the potential to make the world a better place with positive practical and policy contributions and societal impact long into the future. In order to be successful with this initiative, we will ensure that the editors and reviewers who work on such papers are professionally socialized so that they are sensitive to the perspectives taken by authors in these types of manuscripts.

Keywords

information systems journal, information systems, IS, information technology, IT, information systems research, ISJ

Special Issue on Addressing Refugees and Migration Issues through Critical Information Systems Research
Submission Date: 2025-03-30

Special Issue Guest Editors

Safa’a AbuJarour, American University of Sharjah, UAE (sabujarour@aus.edu)
Hameed Chughtai, Lancaster University Management School, UK (h.chughtai@lancaster.ac.uk)
Yingqin Zheng, University of Essex, UK (y.zheng@essex.ac.uk)

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports1 that there are approximately
110 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, as of mid-2023, because of persecution, conflict,
war, violence, human rights violations, or events seriously disturbing public order. These include
36.4 million refugees and 62.5 million internally displaced people (IDP), asylum seekers, and
several other people in need of international protection. There is a strong history of research
highlighting the issues faced by refugees, ranging from accounts of violence in the developing
world (Zolberg et al., 1989), exploring the gendered experience of refugees (Pittaway and
Bartolomei, 2000), questioning racist thinking about immigration (Dummett, 2002), case studies
of asylum seekers (Whittaker, 2006), and philosophical inquiry into the fair treatment of refugees
(Miller and Straehle, 2021). The global refugee and forced migration crisis and the persistent
challenges faced by these vulnerable communities call for an urgent need for innovative solutions
that foster social inclusion and empower these populations.

In our field, information systems (IS) researchers have been acutely aware of the refugee and
migrant crises. Researchers have examined the critical issues related to social inclusion of
refugees (Díaz Andrade and Doolin, 2018, 2016), social inclusion and activation of refugee agency
(Bock et al., 2020), information and communication technology (ICT) enabled refugee integration
(AbuJarour et al., 2019; AbuJarour and Krasnova, 2017), refugees and pedagogy (AbuJarour,
2022), digitization and refugee settlement (AbuJarour et al., 2022; AbuJarour et al., 2021),
refugee women and information-precarity (Berg, 2023), and migrant identity (Hultin et al., 2021;
Hultin and Introna, 2018). Researchers in sister fields have explored digitally mediated
experiences of refugees (Talhouk et al., 2018), building a technology-oriented humanitarian
research framework for field researchers (Fisher, 2022), the emergence of new digital landscape
in refugee management (Masso and Kasapoglu, 2020; Akhmetova et al., 2021) , new forms of
data colonialism and humanitarian response to refugee crises (Madianou, 2019), data
governance and data justice (Witteborn, 2022), datafication and refugees subjectivities (Tazzioli,
2022), feminist and decolonial approaches to examine displacement issues (Singh et al., 2021),
and participatory design and decolonization in the context of refugee account (Clarke et al.,
2022).

Nonetheless, recent research in refugee studies has shown that critical areas at the intersection
of technology, refugees, and broader migration crises have remain underexamined, for example,
social media and device vetting (Bolhuis and van Wijk, 2020), digitally mediated lived experiences
of minority refugees (Lenette and Boddy, 2013), refugees and a sense of uncertainty in the digital
age (Miellet, 2021), refugee aid and digital capitalism (Henriksen, 2024), and networked refugees
(Maitland, 2018; Hajj, 2021). Technological advances like AI-based refugee settlement
applications2 and Blockchain-based fundraising solutions3 and identity management4 solutions
have started to emerge, and it is unclear how critical technological advances will shape issues
related to technology, power, and control in the sensitive context of refugees and migrants.
Further, new forms of sociopolitical digital problems have started to emerge within refugee
contexts such as digital colonialism and refugees (Singh et al., 2021; Madianou, 2019), gender
violence and sexual minority refugees (Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, 2014), and critical race issues of
refugees and digital coloniality (Kwet, 2019).

We observe that despite some progress in our field, much remains underexplored in addressing
these pressing issues, underscoring the need for rigorous research. This special issue aims to
explore how IS research could contribute to illuminating the refugee crises and alleviating the
deterioration of refugee and migrant social circumstances. These sensitive topics are situated
within the broader debate on digital inclusion and empowerment (Pandey and Zheng, 2023;
Zheng et al., 2018) and the discussions related to inequality (Zheng and Walsham, 2008) and
demarginalization and decolonization in our field (Chughtai, 2023; Chughtai et al., 2020; Ortiz et
al., 2019). Exploring the critical research questions surrounding IS and migrant/refugee
populations is essential for developing comprehensive and ‘good’ IS solutions and making the
world a better place for all of us (Davison et al., 2022).

Scope and Expectations

For this special issue, we encourage submissions from diverse researchers with multidisciplinary
perspectives, including experts in IS, social sciences, public policy, humanitarian studies, and
other relevant fields. Such interdisciplinary collaborations will contribute to a holistic
understanding of the problems and foster innovative solutions.

We seek submissions that focus on real-world issues at the intersection of refugees and migrant
crises and technology. We are particularly interested in works that incorporate a unique IS
perspective in addressing this topic, considering critical societal issues such as those related to
mobility, marginality, integration, segregation, identity issues, empowerment, subjugation,
control and management, coloniality, and highlighting the role of technology in these complex
and dynamic social phenomena, and the impact of digital interventions on the lives of refugees
and migrant communities. Authors are encouraged to explore and address these issues in their
submission.

This special issue aims to provide valuable theoretical and practical contributions to scholars,
researchers, practitioners, and policymakers by delving into the multifaceted dimensions of
technologies and their role in addressing specific issues related to refugees and migrant
populations. We invite high-quality research papers that shed light on the innovative
applications, challenges, and opportunities presented by technology in the context of refugees
and migrant communities.

Topics of Interest

We invite contributions that investigate the role of information systems in the subjugation and
empowerment of refugee populations. The main topic of research should be refugees or
migration and the manuscript should have a strong IS component.

We welcome diverse theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches from a wide range
of disciplines and fields of studies. Contributions should be made to both IS research and refugees
(or migration related) research.

Some examples of topics that would be appropriate include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Critical analyses of the interrelated themes of identity, refugeeness, and belonging.
• Exploring the ethics of (forced) migration.
• Analysing the politics of responsibility and the integration of refugees and migrants in digital
contexts.
• Technology, racial marginalization and refugees experience.
• Digital biopolitics, identities, and datafication of migrants and refugees.
• Online activism and digital social movements in the context of refugees or migrants.
• Agency, resistance and coping mechanisms of migrants and refugees.
• Examining the issues at the intersections of gender, technology, and migrants/refugees
(including queering migration and issues of gender-based violence).
• Digitally-entangled lived experiences of minorities among refugee populations.
• Datafication of borders and algorithmic management of migrants and refugees.
• Decolonial justice and/for migrants and refugees.
• Digital justice and human rights issues affecting migrants and refugees.
• Digital and data surveillance and control on migrants and refugees.
• Issues related to power and exploitation of migrants and refugees.
• Critical narratives of displacement.
• Digital accounts and narratives of refugee experience.
• Technology and the political philosophy of migration and refuge.
• Novel theoretical lenses to study migration and refugee issues such as decolonial theory,
spatial and temporal perspectives, Indigenous viewpoints, critical race theory, and feminist
approaches.
• Novel methodological approaches to examine refugee issues such a visual ethnography,
visual research, and digitally mediated bodily experiences.
• Application of novel technologies such as Blockchain and AI.