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Publications & Talks
Publications
Madianou, M, Hill, C., Thako, H., Anonymous & Anonymous (2026). ‘Digital ID as surreptitious experimentation in the humanitarian-tech industry: an ethnography of a biometric pilot in a refugee camp in the Thailand-Myanmar border’. Information, Communication and Society, doi: 10.1080/1369118X.2026.2711732
Madianou, M., & Hill, C. (2026). Digital Identity, Datafication and Epidermalisation In Mae La Refugee Camp. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research. https://doi.org/10.5210/spir.v2024i0.15231
Talks
Madianou, M and Hill, C. (2026) ‘Digital ID as surreptitious experimentation in the humanitarian-tech industry: an ethnography of a biometric pilot in a refugee camp in the Thailand-Myanmar border’. IAMCR conference, Galway Dublin, 28 June – 2 July
Hill, C. and Madianou, M (2026) ‘Exhibition as Method: storytelling, knowledge production and public scholarship’, IAMCR conference, Galway Dublin, 28 June – 2 July
Madianou, M (2026) ‘Identification without Recognition: the infrastructural violence of digital ID among Karen refugees’. Doing Digital ID workshop, Leuphana University, May 28 2026
Madianou, M. (2025) Invited roundtable speaker on panel 'A UK Digital ID - how can we ensure a balance of power between the citizen and the state?, UK Internet Governance Forum (UK IGF), London, December 11 2025 https://ukigf.org.uk/ukigf-2025-speakers/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjZ1TYDt11g
Madianou, M. and Hill, C. (2025) ‘Digital Identity, Datafication and Epidermalisation in a Karen refugee camp', AoIR2025: The 26th Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers, Niteroi, Brazil) 16-19 October 2025
Madianou, M. (2025) ‘Resisting Technocolonialism: Reimagining Technologies for Social Justice’ Keynote at ECREA conference 'Beyond Borders: Creative Methods and Reflexive Approaches to Migration, Media, and Intercultural Dialogue', Tallinn University, 16-18 September 2025
Hill, C. (2025) ‘Lines of Recognition: Rethinking Digital Identity with Karen Refugees in Mae La Refugee Camp’. ASEAS, Cambridge, UK, 15-17 September, 2025
Thako, H (2025) 'Rethinking Digital Identity with Karen Refugees in Mae La' panel participant at Fragmented Aid & Resistance Along the Border event, Bangkok, 8 Sept, 2025
Hill, C. (2025) 'Lines of Recognition: Rethinking digital identity with Karen refugees in Mae La camp' keynote at the 'Field Devices: Creative intervention and the materialities of ethnographic encounter workshop. Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology, Thammasat University, 15 Aug, 2025
Madianou, M. and Hill, C. (2025) ‘Rethinking responsible digital identity systems: datafication, power asymmetries and recognition among encamped Karen refugees in Thailand’, IAMCR, Singapore, 13-17 July, 2025
Hill, C. and Madianou, M. (2025) ‘Reimagining Digital Identity: A Visual Participatory Approach Among Encamped Karen Refugees’ IAMCR, Singapore, 13-17 July, 2025
Madianou, M. and Hill, C. (2025) ‘Faces in the system: digital identity, datafication and power asymmetries in a Karen refugee camp’, ICA Annual conference, Denver, 12-17 June, 2025
Hill, C. and Madianou, M. (2025) ‘Lines of Displacement: Visualising the Lived Realities of Encamped Refugees’, ICA Annual conference, Denver, 12-17 June, 2025
Awards
Decolonising the Digital Award 2026 (IAMCR)
"Digital ID as surreptitious experimentation in the humanitarian-tech industry: an ethnography of a biometric pilot in a refugee camp in the Thailand-Myanmar border" by Mirca Madianou (Goldsmiths, University of London), Charlotte Hill (Chiang Mai University) and Hayso Thako (Chiang Mai University).
The Award Selection Committee stated:
'This paper offers a compelling critique of the technology-humanitarian nexus through its analysis of digital ID systems and “surreptitious experimentation” on refugees. Reviewers praised its clarity, strong conceptual framing, and sharp critique of colonial logics in digital health aid, highlighting its important contribution to decolonising digital technologies.'