Collective appropriation and cooperative uses of mobile telephony among Burmese fishers

Abstract

Early research on mobile phone adoption among fishers followed an economistic perspective, focusing mainly on access to market price information. Researchers called for investigations into collective and cooperative uses of the technology. Responding to these calls, we explored Burmese fishers’ use of mobile phones in the realms of social life and business, mainly related to information seeking and sharing among the community. Interviews with 23 fishers in three regions in Myanmar suggested that both social and commercial, as well as individual- and community-oriented, uses were prevalent. Mobile phones helped channel information on price and market demand among a limited number of fishers, especially the boat owners and fish dealers. The other segments in the fishing labor hierarchy desisted from individual ownership of the phone, while opting for a more community-based appropriation. A nuanced picture of use and non-use of mobiles emerged alongside fishers’ socio-economic status and patterns of fishing.