By Gianluca Iazzolino (University of Manchester and FIERI)

This review interrogates what evidence is currently available in the academic literature on the complex dynamics of the engagement of migrants and refugees with the digital economy. Despite the limited attention paid to the digital economy in the main migration studies journals, there is an emerging awareness of the implications of the interplay of migration and labour policies for the specific condition of migrant workers.

By assessing the evidence, and identifying overarching themes and research gaps, this review highlights the ambiguous role of digital technologies in the socio-economic integration of migrant workers, draws attention to the tension between self-reliance and adverse digital incorporation, and problematise the gap between the policy conversation on how to reconcile economic growth and migrant socio-economic inclusion, and empirical reality in which the digital economy is already absorbing migrant workforce in a fragmented and loosely regulated fashion. It thus identifies four main research streams: the first revolves around policy initiatives to provide digital upskilling to migrants and refugees; the second examines examples of migrant entrepreneurship in the digital economy; the third focuses on exploitation dynamics in the digital economy; and the fourth discusses digital labour and migrant solidarity and activism. In light of this review, this report sketches the trajectories for further research.