That Car Ain’t from Around Here: Using Technology to Stay Safe in Toronto Social Housing

• In Event: Victimization

Abstract

For most, the value of technology is that it helps to make life easier and more convenient, be it by shaving a few minutes off a busy commute, making a purchase on-the-go, or immediately responding to an important email. For some of the most vulnerable populations, however, technology (and smart phone technology, in particular) is crucial because it helps ensure the most basic of human needs – safety, security, and survival. This paper, based on two years of ethnographic research in a Toronto social housing development, outlines the ways that residents use smart phone technology (cameras, instant messaging, and social media) to avoid being victimized by outsiders. In a neighbourhood that is constantly operating under the threat of drive-by shootings and oppressive police tactics, smart phones are used to pass crucial information through invisible networks in a matter of seconds, connecting the neighbourhood and keeping residents safe. This paper will shed light on the ways that vulnerable populations utilize technology to exert some semblance of agency and control in their everyday lives.

Author

• Luca Berardi, University of Alberta