Special issue of Mobile Media & Communication, Vol. 12, No. 1 (January 2024)

Deadline: May 30, 2022

Editors: Maren Hartmann, Justine Humphry, David Lowis & Will Marler

Advances in mobile communication research have often come from studying middle-class populations, white-collar professionals, and groups with relatively stable social and living status (Ling, 2004; Fortunati, 2002; Goggin & Hjorth, 2014). Alternative perspectives such as from the Global South are increasingly common and help enrich our understanding of mobile communication (Donner, 2015; Ling & Horst 2011). Yet we’ve only begun to examine the different ways that social exclusion may shape mobile media practices.

What happens when we approach the study of mobile media and communication from the perspectives of those who are homeless? In this Special Issue of Mobile Media and Communication, we draw attention to homelessness as a set of diverse experiences with significant consequences for wellbeing and unique connections to mobile media. We want to challenge the taken-for-granted focus on the stably-housed, by studying those without the same privilege or lifestyle.

We invite submissions that address the implications of homelessness—in its myriad forms— for our understanding of mobile communication. Homelessness and housing exclusion, of course, are not monolithic categories, and they may entail different meanings and experiences across different geographical, cultural, and historical contexts, from the “van life” of modern nomads in the United States (Smith & Davis, 2020), to rough-sleepers in South East England (Stevenson & Neale, 2012), to Syrian refugees in rural ghettos in Southern Turkey (Pelek, 2022).

What is the role of mobile communication in contemporary experiences of homelessness? What does it mean when one’s physical and media (im)mobility stem from the dispossession of shelter or status? In this special issue, we are interested in contributions from intersecting fields of research such as studies of media, mobilities, migration, inequalities, health, disability, and development. We particularly welcome papers that either open up definitions of ‘homelessness’, center the voices of people who are homeless and/or challenge established representations (Speer, 2021).

While much early research on homelessness and mobile communication originated in the United States with a focus on health issues (e.g., Rice & Barman-Adhikari, 2014; Calvo, Carbonell & Johnsen, 2019), in recent years, research on homelessness and mobile communication has begun to spread, both in terms of the focus as well as its geographical reach (Marler, 2021; Humphry, 2014; Hartmann, 2018). This special issue aims to build on these beginnings and expand the field further conceptually and methodologically through making new disciplinary connections.

Submitted projects could approach the question of homelessness and mobile communication from a range of perspectives and frameworks. Mobile and digital media are at once tools of survival for many who are unstably housed as well as avenues for entertainment, community-building, and selfexpression (Marler, 2021). Digital and mobile media can function as multipliers of inequality. Indeed, insufficient digital access, skills, and motivation, put people at an increased risk of falling behind in the social and economic sphere. Technologies of the state—from algorithmic decision-making in welfare and policing to urban surveillance regimes—may be levied against those who are unstably housed or simply ‘on the move’. In some countries, where a digital COVID-pass is now becoming the norm, access to a smartphone, and consequently ways to keep it charged and functioning (as well as to keep it per se), have become vital. Lack of a smartphone is giving rise to potentially new types of exclusion. More research is needed to understand how the conditions of homelessness interact with the promise and liabilities of mobile communication in these and other contexts.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

- The role of involuntary mobility (e.g., forced migration, housing insecurity) in shaping mobile communication meanings and practices.

- Digital divides in mobile access, uses, skills, and benefits for people experiencing homelessness.

- Potentials and challenges of digital inclusion programs and mobile-based interventions for health, safety, and social service delivery for people experiencing homelessness.

- Surveillance and privacy concerns around mobile use while unstably housed.

- The role of mobile/digital media among those pursuing "homelessness” as a lifestyle/choice (e.g., #vanlife or digital nomads).

- The relationship between mobile devices and the safety of people when homeless in public spaces.

- The interaction and construction of public and private categories and spaces by people experiencing homelessness through mobile media.

- The role of mobile communication in identity construction and curation for how people negotiate the experience and label/category of homelessness.

- The role of mobiles in digital storytelling and narration of experiences of homelessness.

- Experiences and practices of mobile connectivity vs. going “off the grid”.

Important dates:

- Abstract submission date – up to 500 words for abstracts 30 May, 2022

- Acceptances / rejections (and comments) returned to authors by 15 July, 2022

- Authors submit full papers by 30 November, 2022

- Peer Reviews completed/resubmissions in April, 2023

- Final acceptance by 30 September, 2023

- Special issue published in January 2024

Guidelines:

Please submit an extended abstract of 500 words (including references) that states the paper’s main argument, contribution, and takeaway. The abstract should clearly explain how the full submission will contribute to the aims of this special issue. Please email abstracts to homelessmedia2024@gmail.com by 30/05/2022. Abstracts should be accompanied by a short biography for each author (approx. 200 words). Also, include the names, titles, and contact information for 2-3 suggested reviewers.

Positively reviewed abstracts will be invited to submit full articles through http://mmc.sagepub.com. Invited submissions will undergo a blind peer-review process following the usual procedures of Mobile Media & Communication. The special section will be published in Volume 12, no. 1 of Mobile Media & Communication in 2024. Please note that manuscripts must conform to the guidelines for Mobile Media & Communication. In case of further questions, please contact the guest editors.

References:

Calvo, F., X. Carbonell and S. Johnsen (2019). Information and communication technologies, e-Health and homelessness: A bibliometric review, Cogent Psychology, 6:1, 1631583, DOI: 10.1080/23311908.2019.1631583

Donner, Jonathan. 2015. After Access: Inclusion, Development, and a More Mobile Internet. MIT Press. Fortunati, Leopoldina. 2002. “The Mobile Phone: Towards New Categories and Social Relations.” Information, Communication & Society 5 (4): 513–28.

Goggin, Gerard, and Larissa Hjorth, eds. 2014. The Routledge Companion to Mobile Media. Routledge.

Hartmann, M. (2018): Mobilism in translation: Putting a new research paradigm to the test. In: Fast, Karin; Jansson, Andre; Lindell, Johan (eds.): Geomedia Studies: Spaces and Mobilities in Mediatized Worlds. London: Routledge, pp. 173-194.

Humphry, J. (2014). The Importance of Circumstance: Digital Access and Affordability for People Experiencing Homelessness. Australian Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 2(3), 55-1-55-15. http://doi.org/10.7790/ajtde.v2n3.55.

Ling, Rich. 2004. The Mobile Connection: The Cell Phone’s Impact on Society. Elsevier. Ling, Rich, and Heather A Horst. 2011. “Mobile Communication in the Global South.” New Media & Society 13 (3): 363–74.

Marler, W. (2021). ‘You Can’t Talk at the Library’: The Leisure Divide and Public Internet Access for People Experiencing Homelessness. Information, Communication & Society. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2021.2006742.

Rice, E. & Barman-Adhikari, A. (2014). Internet and Social Media Use as a Resource Among Homeless Youth. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 19, 232–247.

Pelek, D. (2022). Ethnic residential segregation among seasonal migrant workers: From temporary tents to new rural ghettos in southern Turkey. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 49(1), 54–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2020.1767077

Smith, E. G., & Davis, J. M. (2020). Van Life: A Creative Exploration of Contemporary Nomadism [Thesis]. https://doi.org/10.26153/tsw/11121

Speer, J. (2021). Subalternity as displacement: Memoirs of homelessness and the struggle to be heard. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 39(4), 627–644. https://doi.org/10.1177/02637758211028241

Stevenson, C., & Neale, J. (2012). ‘We did more rough sleeping just to be together’ – Homeless drug users’ romantic relationships in hostel accommodation. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 19(3), 234–243.