Disconnection divide: When rooflessness meets (digital) dis/connection

Abstract

Digital disconnection is frequently framed as a voluntary practice, epitomized by the phenomenon of “digital detoxing.” Conversely, disconnection among populations in the Global South or socioeconomically disadvantaged groups in the Global North is predominantly considered an externally imposed hardship. Yet this binary framing overlooks the nuanced realities of disconnection as both a constraint and a deliberate strategy, often framed as digital divide. Drawing on a 3-year study with roofless individuals in Berlin, this article advances the concept of the “disconnection divide” to foreground the complex interplay between “voluntary” and imposed forms of digital dis/connection. Our ethnographic findings illustrate that maintaining digital access is often precarious, shaped by device theft, limited charging opportunities, and unstable internet connections. Nonetheless, our participants also opt to disconnect, seeking respite from familial demands, intrusive relationships, or expectations imposed by social services. Frequently, they even use digital technology, such as gaming and streaming, to disconnect from their surroundings. These shifting fault lines – where disconnection simultaneously operates as an act of resistance, a coping mechanism, and an enforced condition – connect existing literature on voluntary disconnection in privileged contexts and imposed disconnection in marginalized settings. By emphasizing this ambivalence, the disconnection divide provides a critical new lens on digitally mediated inequality.

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