‘Re-mediating’ the ruptures of migration: the use of internet and mobile phones in migrant women’s organizations in Ireland

There is a common conception that new information and communication technologies have the potential to achieve greater social equity; to empower migrants, particularly in the construction of diasporic spaces and agency. However, this achievement is not uniform: media are enmeshed in pre-existent power structures. Gender, class, and ‘race’ mark the lines of the technological divide. To explore these issues, we look at the case of migrant women in Ireland who are active in migrant organisations. Despite uneven access to mediated information flows, adaptive innovation in communication technology use is evident in these organisations. Mediatised communication and information are integral to their day-today management, in such a way as to both consolidate and expand existing ‘offline’ networks. While problematising notions of migrant belongings and affiliations, our research entails a critical rethinking of several commonplace preconceptions in popular discourse: the ‘migrant’, the ‘individual’ technology user, and the idea of technology access as a ‘pure good’.