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A Guide to the Taxonomy of Resistance Technology

This taxonomy is a living repository of digital systems that fall under the definition of what we call ‘Resistance Technology’ or ‘ResTech’, a digital layer in the migration sphere that is community-led, and built to fill gaps in information, welfare, and development through bottom-up means, thereby rebalancing existing power structures and enabling negotiation for people on the move.

We have developed this repository to recognise the role and functions of ResTech,  spotlighting systems that fulfil these roles in diverse and innovative ways. This seemingly invisible, but highly crucial layer of ResTech within migration management contexts highlights the existence of many informal and relational mechanisms that people on the move deploy to negotiate ever-complex migration contexts. These efforts are supported by various stakeholders to reduce barriers to information and mobility, particularly for vulnerable migrants and forcibly displaced people.

The taxonomy highlights diverse ResTech use cases across various sectors and regions. However, there is a dearth of literature on how community-driven initiatives create bottom-up friction and provide alternative means of technology mediation. This area remains largely understudied, neglected by funding institutions, and excluded from discussions on migration management.

Who is the taxonomy for?

Through this exercise, we hope to be able to create communities of care around ResTech systems. This taxonomy hopes to inform the actions of creators and deployers of ResTech, funding institutions, policymakers, and community members ranging from academia to on-ground aid workers, to people on the move themselves.
 

  1. For the creators and deployers of ResTech, the taxonomy creates a live repository that visibilises and amplifies their efforts, facilitating a knowledge-sharing community that can learn and communicate with each other. This will allow the cross-pollination of knowledge around ResTech and enable co-creation in bottom-up initiatives.
     

  2. For researchers and academics, this taxonomy is a resource that can foster further research into bottom-up technology mediation. Researchers and academics can shed light on how these systems can be used to build and support the migration technologies ecosystem.
     

  3. For funding institutions, this taxonomy is an opportunity to understand the ecosystem to find points of intervention to support the development of ResTech by opening up funding channels through grants, donations, and so on
     

  4. For policymakers, this taxonomy could assist in initiating legislative nudges and integrating this layer into the tapestry of migration management
     

  5. For people on the move and aid workers, this taxonomy is a list of initiatives that cater to their needs and aspirations in different migratory contexts that state instruments cannot fill in for.

Applying the taxonomy

Background

The taxonomy is a crucial repository that lays the foundation for enabling bottom-up governance in migration technology use cases. It allows stakeholders from various corners of the ecosystem to contextualise the findings and insights from the taxonomy in ways that enable the ResTech ecosystem to be recognised and act as a crucial input for community involvement in the migration ecosystem. The following is how we seek to facilitate this:
 

  • Discovering ResTech to visibilise the characteristics of these systems and the roles that they play in creating negotiating power for people on the move.
     

  • Amplifying the need for such a layer in migration technology, advocating for it as potentially filling a gap in migration discourses.
     

  • Assistance in facilitating capacity building for ResTech by evaluating points of intervention for various stakeholders, ranging from funding to technical knowhow and skill-building.
     

  • Supporting the growth of ResTech through the abovementioned ways, and advocating for bottom-up governance for migration
     

When applying the taxonomy, it is also important to note that how each stakeholder interacts with it will tilt the individual weight of each code/bucket, based on the type of intervention in question. In some cases, it may also undergo a shift, based on geographical, cultural, and policy contexts.

​Endnotes

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