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Swish as Digital Infrastructure: Social Enforcement and its Implications for Non-EU International Students in Sweden

Ackah, Justice LU and Doe, Carol (2026) INFM12 20261
Department of Informatics
Abstract
Access to digital infrastructure in highly digitalized societies is shaped not only by the availability of technology but also by the administrative arrangements that govern access to it. This study examines how non-EU international students at Lund University experience and navigate exclusion from Sweden’s digital financial infrastructure through the case of Swish, a mobile payment system widely used in everyday social and financial activities. The study uses a qualitative interpretive case study approach based on six semi-structured interviews with non-EU students enrolled in one-year MSc programmes. The findings show that access to digital financial infrastructure is organised through layered administrative processes centred on the... (More)
Access to digital infrastructure in highly digitalized societies is shaped not only by the availability of technology but also by the administrative arrangements that govern access to it. This study examines how non-EU international students at Lund University experience and navigate exclusion from Sweden’s digital financial infrastructure through the case of Swish, a mobile payment system widely used in everyday social and financial activities. The study uses a qualitative interpretive case study approach based on six semi-structured interviews with non-EU students enrolled in one-year MSc programmes. The findings show that access to digital financial infrastructure is organised through layered administrative processes centred on the personnummer threshold, producing unequal participation among students with similar legal status. The findings further show that Swish had become an expected mode of participation in everyday interactions, where exclusion carried both practical and social consequences. To navigate these challenges, students relied on workarounds that revealed unequal forms of infrastructural participation rather than full inclusion, despite students being legally present and digitally literate. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Ackah, Justice LU and Doe, Carol
supervisor
organization
course
INFM12 20261
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Swish, digital infrastructure, social enforcement, digital inequality, non-EU international students, digital financial infrastructure, administrative gatekeeping
language
English
id
9239703
date added to LUP
2026-06-16 16:32:03
date last changed
2026-06-16 16:32:03
@misc{9239703,
  abstract     = {{Access to digital infrastructure in highly digitalized societies is shaped not only by the availability of technology but also by the administrative arrangements that govern access to it. This study examines how non-EU international students at Lund University experience and navigate exclusion from Sweden’s digital financial infrastructure through the case of Swish, a mobile payment system widely used in everyday social and financial activities. The study uses a qualitative interpretive case study approach based on six semi-structured interviews with non-EU students enrolled in one-year MSc programmes. The findings show that access to digital financial infrastructure is organised through layered administrative processes centred on the personnummer threshold, producing unequal participation among students with similar legal status. The findings further show that Swish had become an expected mode of participation in everyday interactions, where exclusion carried both practical and social consequences. To navigate these challenges, students relied on workarounds that revealed unequal forms of infrastructural participation rather than full inclusion, despite students being legally present and digitally literate.}},
  author       = {{Ackah, Justice and Doe, Carol}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Swish as Digital Infrastructure: Social Enforcement and its Implications for Non-EU International Students in Sweden}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}