Social Media and Politics in Africa (eBook, ePUB)

Democracy, Censorship and Security
Redaktion: Dwyer, Maggie; Molony, Thomas

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

The smartphone and social media have transformed Africa, allowing people across the continent to share ideas, organise, and participate in politics like never before. While both activists and governments alike have turned to social media as a new form of political mobilization, some African states have increasingly sought to clamp down on the technology, introducing restrictive laws or shutting down networks altogether.

Drawing on over a dozen new empirical case studies - from Kenya to Somalia, South Africa to Tanzania - this collection explores how rapidly growing social media use is reshaping political engagement in Africa. But while social media has often been hailed as a liberating tool, the book demonstrates how it has often served to reinforce existing power dynamics, rather than challenge them.

Featuring experts from a range of disciplines from across the continent, this collection is the first comprehensive overview of social media and politics in Africa. By examining the historical, political, and social context in which these media platforms are used, the book reveals the profound effects of cyber-activism, cyber-crime, state policing and surveillance on political participation.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury UK
• Seitenzahl: 320
• Erscheinungstermin: 15. Juli 2019
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781786995001
• Artikelnr.: 57794847

Autorenporträt

Maggie Dwyer is a Lecturer at the Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh. She also serves as an associate editor at the Journal of Modern African Studies. Her previous works include Soldiers in Revolt: Army Mutinies in Africa (2017). Thomas Molony is Director of the Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh. He has previously served as an international election observer for the European Union Election Observation Missions in Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi, as well as serving as a parliamentary adviser on ICT in developing countries. His previous works include Nyerere: The Early Years (2014).

Inhaltsangabe

1. Mapping the Study of Politics and Social Media Use in Africa - Maggie
Dwyer & Thomas Molony 2. 'Igu sawir gone too far'? Social media and state
reconstruction in Somalia - Peter Chonka 3. 'We are not just voters, we are
citizens': Social Media, the #ThisFlag Campaign, and Insurgent Citizenship
in Zimbabwe - George Karekwaivanane & Admire Mare 4. Social Media and
Protest Movements in South Africa: #FeesMustFall and #ZumaMustFall - Tanja
Bosch 5. Enemy Collaborators: Social imaginaries, global frictions, and a
gay rights music video in Kenya - Brian Ekdale 6. Between Excitement and
Scepticism: The Role of WhatsApp in Sierra Leone's 2018 Elections - Maggie
Dwyer, Jamie Hitchen, & Thomas Molony 7. Chaos and Comedy: Social Media,
Activism, and Democracy in Senegal - Emily Riley 8. Social Media and
Elections in Nigeria: Digital Influence on Election Observation, Campaigns,
and Administration - Nkwachukwu Orji 9. From FM radio stations to Internet
2.0 overnight: information, participation and social media in post-failed
coup Burundi - Jean-Benoît Falisse & Hugues Nkengurutse 10. Cybercrime and
the policing of politics in Tanzania - Charlotte Cross 11. A familiar
refrain: Political discourse and Facebook use in Mombasa, Kenya - Stephanie
Diepeveen 12. Inside the #OperationUsalamaWatch echo chamber: Twitter as
site of disruption or elite conversation? - Alisha Patel 13. From Whispers
to the Assemblage: Surveillance in Post-Independence East Africa - Denis
Galava Postscript: Research Trajectories in African Digital Spheres - Bruce
Mutsvairo & Kate Wright