Older Vietnamese refugees’ transnational digital social capital and its impact on social inclusion

ABSTRACT

In this article I focus on older Australian-Vietnamese refugees’ social capital, referring to Bourdieu’s capital approach, drawing on a narrative-biographical, ethnographic and qualitative network analytical study. To stay in touch with kin and the diaspora across distances the older refugees developed digital literacy. I term this form of capital ‘transnational digital social capital’. It is a consequence from the diasporic experience, as the loss of economic and material capital during forced displacement produced a stronger reliance on social capital. This ‘transnational digital social capital’ can be seen as resource for social inclusion (1) with relatives in the country of origin and other countries, (2) within the diaspora and (3) in the society of settlement. Furthermore, it can be conceptualised as an additional care resource. Linking the scholarship on transnational social capital with the literature on the role of digital technologies for refugees, the concept ‘transnational digital social capital’ provides new insights into digital literacy and use as a form of social and cultural capital.

KEYWORDS:

• Digital capital
• social capital
• refugee studies
• transnational care
• transnational ageing

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The interviews were recorded and transcribed.

2 All interviews are anonymised. Names, dates and identifiable information have been changed.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [grant number BR 5645/1-1].