Navigating Displacement Through Digital Spaces: Smartphones as Tools for Temporal Continuity and Identity Reconstruction in the Lives of Refugees

Journal title MONDI MIGRANTI
Author/s Claudia Lintner
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2026/1
Language Italian Pages 18 P. 208-225 File size 255 KB
DOI 10.3280/MM2026-001010
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This study investigates how refugees use smartphones to cope with the temporal disruptions caused by forced migration, drawing on theories related to the construction of social reality and mediatization. Through a qualitative methodology that includes narrative and semi-structured interviews with asylum seekers at the northern border of Italy, the research explores the concept of “imagined affordances” and their evolution throughout the different stages of the refugees’ journey. The findings reveal that smartphones serve as essential tools for maintaining temporal continuity, connecting refugees’ past, present, and future within a digital “third space” that transcends physical borders. This digital co-presence helps refugees reconstruct a coherent sense of self, manage emotional distress, and envision future possibilities despite the challenges of displacement. The study highlights the dual role of smartphones as both practical communication tools and emotional survival devices, emphasizing the need for policies that address digital inequalities to support the agency and integration of refugees. The research enriches the understanding of the nexus between migration and digitalization, foregrounding time and temporality as critical analytical categories in the lived experiences of displaced populations.

Keywords: temporal continuity; imagined affordances; digital co-presence.

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Claudia Lintner, Navigare il dislocamento attraverso spazi digitali: gli smartphone come strumenti di continuità temporale e ricostruzione dell’identità nelle vite dei rifugiati in "MONDI MIGRANTI" 1/2026, pp 208-225, DOI: 10.3280/MM2026-001010