Abstract
In Homelessness and mobile communication: Precariously connected, Justine Humphry argues that those who experience homelessness are “precariously connected.” Adopting a multimethod approach consisting of surveys, interviews, and participatory research within Australia and the United States, Humphry unveils the ways people experiencing homelessness navigate uneven, insecure, and costly mobile communications services. Additionally, she underscores that the dependency of these individuals on the mobile phone to access a wide range of information and services equally engenders new and old vulnerabilities, as shaped by broader cultural, political, and economic constraints.
Throughout the book, the reader gains an in-depth and critical understanding of the mobile phone’s ambivalent significance for those experiencing homelessness. This is achieved through an incisive examination of digitization processes at play and how these are perceived and experienced by marginalized groups, service workers, and policy makers. In Chapter 1, Humphry asserts that the common notions of homelessness often do not include consideration of the mutual shaping of homelessness and mobile communication. By introducing the notion of mediated homelessness, the chapter sets the scene for how mobile media can soften the challenges of being without a home while simultaneously making its absence especially tangible when confronted with digital constraints. Chapter 2 expands on the potential of mobile media as a lifeline for those experiencing homelessness by illustrating the role of the mobile phone in harnessing positive impacts on an individual’s psychological and physical wellbeing. However, Chapter 3 nuances the emancipatory potential of mobile communication, as exclusionary market structures marginalize homeless people against accessing a stable and secure mobile Internet. Chapter 4 then provides a critical and encompassing analysis of the neoliberal logic underpinning digitization of government, health, and welfare services and how this compounds dependence, connectivity costs, and digital exclusion. Thereafter, the book turns toward datafication and smart cities in Chapters 5 and 6. Using the LinkNYC network—public kiosks that provide Internet access—as a case study, these chapters illustrate how homeless groups are “coerced” to be in perpetual movement to meet their digital access needs. The final chapter concludes with a call to action to tackle digital inequalities by “linking spatial justice goals and principles with those of data justice” (p. 198). Here, Humphry reiterates that designing inclusive and accessible urban spaces in digitized societies does not only entail providing public access to mobile Internet, but should also consider how new data access and processing subject traditionally marginalized communities to increased discrimination.
In many ways, the book aligns with and further advances the recent shift in mobile communication research to move beyond the (dis)empowerment dichotomy (cf. Pei & Chib, 2021). Humphry achieves this by showcasing how the outcomes of mobile media use do not solely lie in the technology itself, but are structured by individual, social, cultural, institutional, and political factors. In particular, the book substantiates this argument by illuminating the mobile phone as essential to survival for people experiencing homelessness, while simultaneously exacerbating the risks and uncertainties of digitization processes. It therefore formulates a powerful critique of “technological solutionism” (p. 191) by unpacking how neoliberal logics (e.g., expensive prepaid mobile plans) and governmental policies (e.g., surveillance infrastructure built in the LinkNYC) reinforce inequalities. At the same time, however, Humphrey does not perpetuate the stigmatizing victimization trope that homelessness equals helplessness and dependence. On several occasions, she recognizes the creative connective strategies that homeless groups employ, such as reducing the risk of debt by using flexible prepaid mobile plans and sharing mobile phones. Yet Humphrey also argues that these tactics can result in “interrupted connectivity” and more extensive connectivity costs, owing to the neoliberal structure of the market.
Overall, Humphry provides a convincing argument against “powerful narratives of digital-by-default” (p. 102) that underpin the contemporary trend toward digitization for the sake of the “common good.” Foregrounding the role of the mobile phone for people experiencing homelessness, the book offers critical insights for readers interested in mobile communication, digital inequalities, and digital policy. Indeed, Homelessness and mobile communication: Precariously connected will compel researchers and policy makers alike to be cognizant of how mobile technologies are embedded within sociocultural inequalities, economic asymmetries, and power hierarchies.