At the intersection of multiple systems of power: A systematic review of gender, migrants, and mobiles

Mobile phones have been studied extensively as tools of (dis)empowerment for marginalized migrant women. However, scholars have traditionally taken either a techno-utopian or critical stance on these outcomes, focusing less on the complex ways in which migrant women use mobile media to negotiate their agency within fluid dynamics of power. Addressing this research gap, this chapter reviews empirical studies on the mobile-mediated strategies used by and against marginalized migrants from Asia through the lens of structuration theory, with a primary focus on the experiences of women. We find that while migrants may incorporate various mobile communication practices to accrue agency within structural constraints, the availability of these practices is largely contingent on migrants’ positionalities within gendered, intersectional systems of control. These positionalities shape how effectively migrants can navigate tensions between demands of their personal and professional lives. Moreover, we argue that a consideration of intersectional positionalities problematizes the potential outcomes of these mobile-mediated strategies. Though these practices may lead to individual agency, they may do little to address (or may even exacerbate) long-term structural constraints for migrant communities.