A grounded theory of information exclusion and information inclusion: framing the information experience of people seeking asylum
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-04-2022-0077 |
| Published date | 09 August 2022 |
| Date | 09 August 2022 |
| Pages | 468-486 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
| Author | Kahina Le Louvier,Perla Innocenti |
A grounded theory of information
exclusion and information
inclusion: framing the information
experience of people
seeking asylum
Kahina Le Louvier
Department of Computer and Information Sciences, Northumbria University,
Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, and
Perla Innocenti
Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde,
Glasgow, UK
Abstract
Purpose –This paper discusses an original theory of information exclusion and information inclusion, which
explains how information interactions can be structured in ways that eitherexclude or include people seeking asylum.
Design/methodology/approach –This theory was developed through an ethnographic study of the
information experience of people seeking asylum in the United Kingdom. Fieldwork involved participant
observations, participatory research workshops and semi-structured interviews, analysed using a
constructivist grounded theory approach.
Findings –People seeking asylum are confronted with two main information environments: the asylum
system and the local third sector. Each environment frames contrasting information access, sharing and
literacy practice modalities: the former produces information deprivation, information sharing agency denial
and a fracturing information literacy practice; the latter facilitates multiple information affordances,
information sharing agency promotion, and both local and heritage information literacy practice promotion.
Our theory of information exclusion and information inclusion describes how through these modalities, an
information environment can either promote or preclude inclusion.
Originality/value –Previous information studies of migration tend to conceptualise social ex/inclusion as a
linear journey. Our theory originally frames this as a non-straightforward and conflicting process, allowing to
better understand the experience of people who are not simply either socially excluded or included, but may
experience both states depending on context. It also shows that exclusion is not a matter of fact and is not
fundamental to asylum systems: it is produced by specific policies and procedures and can therefore be
changed. Thus, this theory provides conceptual tools for researchers to investigate the information experience
of individuals moving between conflicting information practices, and for civil society actors and policymakers
to document exclusionary information practices and design inclusive ones.
Keywords Information practices, Information literacy, Refugees, Migrants, Asylumseekers, Social inclusion,
Social exclusion, Integration
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
This paper presents an original theory for understanding social inclusion and social
exclusion from an information lens, which derives from an ethnographic grounded theory
study of the information experience of people seeking asylum in the United Kingdom (UK).
JD
79,2
468
The authors are grateful to Ian Ruthven (University of Strathclyde) for his helpful comments on this
research, and to the University of Northumbria for supporting the investigation. Our deepest thanks to
all the participants in this study for giving their time and sharing their experiences.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0022-0418.htm
Received 6 April 2022
Revised 4 July 2022
Accepted 13 July 2022
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 79 No. 2, 2023
pp. 468-486
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-04-2022-0077
Although definitions are still debated, social inclusion is commonly described as “the
process of improving the terms of participation in society for people who are disadvantaged”
(United Nations, 2016, p. 18), and social exclusion as “a state in which individuals are unable
to participate fully in economic, social, political and cultural life, as well as the process leading
to and sustaining such a state”(Ibid, p. 20).
As people who fled their homes because of conflict and persecution often find themselves
in situations of exclusion, granting them protection also means for host societies to facilitate
their socialinclusion (UNHCR, n.d.).Yet, if this endeavour is at theheart of various frameworks
and initiatives, it also collides with the intensification of border control, criminalisation and
rights restriction that increasingly characterises immigration and asylum policies in Europe
(Mixed MigrationCentre, 2019). Asylumseekers exemplify this paradoxicalsituation: contrary
to refugeeswho have been grantedprotection, they are admittedin the country where theyhave
submitted their claim but not yet protected. In the UK, they must regularly report to an
immigrationcentre, canonly access a specific andlimited type of housingand financial support,
and are generally not allowed to work. The asylum determination process can last for years
(Sturge, 2022), during which they settle in and adapt to their new communities, while not
knowing how long they will be allowed to stay. Thus, when it comes to people in exile, social
inclusion is a contestedendeavour that co-exists with exclusionary processes.
To fully understand the experience of people seeking asylum and that of other
marginalised groups, it is therefore necessary to take these two processes into account. Yet,
although information is an important aspect of social exclusion and inclusion (Caidi and
Allard, 2005), existing theories in information science have not yet fully described how both
these conflicting processes are produced and their interaction dynamics.
To bridge this gap, we put forward the theory of information exclusion and information
inclusion. Stemming from a doctoral ethnographic research project, this theory explains how
information interactions can be framed in ways that either prevent or promote people’s
agency and belonging within an information environment. This theory provides conceptual
tools for information researchers to analyse the position of individuals in relation to their
information environments, and for civil society actors and policy makers to document
exclusionary information practices and design inclusive ones.
2. Literature review
To approach social exclusion and social inclusion from an information perspective, scholars
have primarily built on the concept of information practices. This concept refers to “asetof
socially and culturally established ways to identify, seek, use, and share the information
available in various sources”(Savolainen, 2008, p. 2). It stems from practice theory (Giddens,
1984;Schatzki, 2002), an approach that considers human actions as structured by rules and
norms that formthe practice of a social site. Appliedto information, practicetheory highlights
the constructed and situated nature of information activities. This allows framing the issues
related to the information experience of (forced) migrants in terms of difference rather than
deficiencies:they may not be ableto make sense of their new environmentsbecause they are not
used to the rules that structure information interactions within them.This may prevent them
from accessing the information they requireto fully participate in society.
Building on this practice approach to information and on empirical studies with refugees,
Lloyd (2017) developed the theory of fractured informationlandscapes. This theory considers
that when resettling in a new country, refugees enter information environments (e.g. health,
education, employment) that are shaped by explicit and tacit norms that have sedimented
overtime to form a shared way of knowing about how to operate in that environment.
Dependingon their own situation (e.g.having children, havingmental health issues), peopledo
not have the same needs, constrains and positions, and may therefore not relate to an
Information
exclusion and
inclusion
469
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