Invisible Barriers and Enablers in the Digital Welfare State: A study of Marginalized Families' Struggles

Equity is a core principle of social work and the Danish welfare state. This presentation explores how inequities emerge at the intersection of parenthood politics and digitalization, shaping the experiences of marginalized families in their interactions with child and family welfare services (CFWS). By integrating intersectionality with Haraway’s concepts of string figures and cyborgs (2016; 1991), I propose a perspective to analyze the relational entanglements of humans, technologies, and society. Recent discussions on digital equity highlight the ‘digital divide’ as a growing concern (Ragnedda, 2020).

Empirical data from a Ph.D. project, based on ethnographic fieldwork across multiple sites (service user organizations, crisis centers, and CFWS), reveal how marginalized families facing out-of-home placements struggle to assert their rights and achieve digital equity, often remaining invisible to public organizations (Star & Strauss, 1999).

When citizenship is mediated by public organizations as ‘digital by default’ (Schou & Pors, 2019), it is essential to ask: at what cost? Through the lens of string figures, cyborg theory, and intersectionality, this study highlights how power dynamics embedded in digital infrastructures can reinforce and even deepen marginalization. For some, this means encountering systemic barriers - similar to Ahmed’s (2012) "brick walls," which might perpetuate multidimensional discrimination (Crenshaw, 1989) and dehumanization. As parents navigate their rights, responsibilities, and sense of belonging in everyday life (Yuval-Davis, 2011), social categories, technologies, and the politics of parenthood intertwine in complex and often unpredictable ways. In this context, fostering kinship networks becomes crucial for promoting digital inclusion and empowerment.