The DOI matches its Crossref record, with a small difference in title or year; 72 of the 75 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Self-Sovereignty for Refugees? The Contested Horizons of Digital Identity
Open accessAbstract
This paper critically examines the implications of ‘self-sovereign identity’ (SSI) for border politics and migration management. SSI refers to user-controlled, decentralised forms of digital identification. Closely linked with the distributed ledger technology blockchain, SSI is presented by advocates as a tool to empower marginalised groups, including refugees. Among other benefits, some claim that SSI removes the need for powerful, centralised institutional structures by giving individuals control and ownership of their identity information. However, through ethnographic research in an international aid organisation, I find that SSI is an embryonic technology with indeterminate properties and benefits. I identify a series of competing logics in the debates around SSI’s emancipatory potential, which relate to four issues: (i) the neutrality of the technology, (ii) the capacities of refugees, (iii) global governance and the nation state, and (iv) new economic models for digital identity. SSI is simultaneously the potential enabler of new modes of empowerment, autonomy and data security for refugees and a means of maintaining and extending bureaucratic and commercial power. I situate SSI in a genealogy of systems of identity control and argue that, in practice, it is likely to feed into the powers of corporations and states over refugee populations.
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“With SSI, users can manage their identities independently, without relying on centralized authorities [6,7].”
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“…for example, the design of the EU’s Visa Information System (Glouftsios, 2021), uses of data-driven systems in migration agencies (Leese et al., 2022; Pfeifer, 2023; Scheel et al., 2019), border control, camps and surveillance (Molnar, 2020), or in human-itarianism (Cheesman, 2022; Marino, 2022).”
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“…representation and treatment of people through digital data production acquire greater relevance in contexts of vulnerability, such as informal labour (Krishna, 2021), labour in the gig economy (Heeks et al., 2020), forced migration and displacement (Cheesman, 2020; Martin & Taylor, 2021).”
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Villela, H. (2023) · doi:10.30707/etd2023.20230711063203130745.999940 · Cited by 1
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Magdalena, S. S. M., Meier, A., Elshan, E., Malekan, O., & Leimeister, J. M. (2025) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.5025855
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Pak, M. (2025) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.5156089 · Cited by 2
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Canzutti, L. (2025) · International Migration · doi:10.1111/imig.70040
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Raj, V., & Alam, S. (2024) · ShodhKosh Journal of Visual and Performing Arts · doi:10.29121/shodhkosh.v5.i1.2024.5593
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Sivasangari, A., Anandhi, T., Ajitha, P., Gomathi, R. M., Siddharhareddy, & Patelkarthikreddy (2025) · AIP conference proceedings · doi:10.1063/5.0264865
Metaphors for Good Digital Identities
Snooks, K., Williams, R., & Richards, D. (2025) · Designing Interactive Systems Conference · doi:10.1145/3715336.3735748
“This also means questioning whether digital identity systems are “voluntary" [27] or whether for certain individuals these would become mandatory, with only some benefitting from fast adoption of digital identities.”
MIDAS and the Performative Dimensions of Global Migration Management
Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.003.0007
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Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.003.0003
Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.002.0007
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Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.003.0002
Conclusion: Enacting the ‘Crimmigrant Other’ in the Global South
Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.003.0011
Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.003.0008
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Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.003.0010 · Cited by 1
Theorizing Crimmigration Control Technologies: Performativity, Pragmatism, and Humanism
Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.003.0004
Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.003.0009
Singler, S. (2025) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/9780198927525.002.0006
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Towards eID Authentication: Readiness Assessment System for ThaID Integration
Onuean, A., Kulkasem, P., Kanyunthong, N., Tansavetwong, S., Kunphruk, J., Thananchai, K., Madhyamapurush, C., & Chinnasarn, K. (2025) · ACIS International Conference on Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Networking and Parallel/Distributed Computing (SNPD) · doi:10.1109/snpd65828.2025.11252643
“In response, governments worldwide have prioritized secure digital identity verification by implementing National Digital Identity (Digital ID) systems [2].”
Metadata
- Authors
- Cheesman, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Cheesman, Margie
- ORCID
- Cheesman, Margie
- Venue
- Geopolitics
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2020-10-04
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 134-159
- ISSN
- 1465-0045 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-3028
- OpenAlex
- W3090713708
- Cited by
- 109
- References
- 75
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 10
- FWCI
- 16.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Geopolitics (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Migration, Refugees, and Integration
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Migration and Exile Studies
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
- Keywords
- self-sovereign identity, digital identity, refugees, blockchain, border politics, migration management, identity control, technological neutrality, global governance, nation-state, digital economy, data security, refugee empowerment
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