The Centre for Social Sciences Research (CSSR) and the  Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa  (IDCPPA) at the University of Cape Town invite you to join us for a lunchtime seminar on 14 May 2024 at 12:45pm. The seminar will be presented by Dr. Shehani Perera.

About the Seminar:

Digital Citizenship in Africa: Technologies of Agency and Repression

In this presentation Professor Bosch leads us in a conversation about digital citizenship in Africa. Despite uneven access to technology, African citizens use digital technologies to influence policy, claim rights, hold governments accountable, and expand democratic space online. Previous research has shown that conceptions of citizenship in Africa are fluid and flexible in the African context, including counter-hegemonic claims for space by minorities, as well as ethno-religious in nature. Moreover, citizenship is experienced unevenly, is often contested and used to exclude 'outsiders,' and is constructed in relation to ethnic and gendered hierarchies.

Drawing on a range of case studies the presentation explores meanings and practices of digital citizenship arguing that African digital citizenship is distinctive in at least three important respects: in terms of the primacy of ethnic affiliations, in terms of the political settlement, and in terms of the principle actors. In answering the question "What is African about digital citizenship in Africa" the presentation concludes that African digital citizenship has very distinct features that are national or sub-national in character and which are not accessible by transcribing global North conceptions of digital citizenship. The study of digital citizenship therefore needs to be situated, conducted by researchers with deep contextual knowledge, and needs to draw on African theoretical framings.

Speakers

Tanja Bosch is professor of Media Studies and Production at the Centre for Film and Media Studies. She is the author of Broadcasting Democracy: Radio and Identity in South Africa (HSRC Press, 2017), Social Media and Everyday Life in South Africa (Routledge 2020); and editor of Digital Citizenship in Africa (Zed Books, 2023). Prof Bosch is also the Chairperson of the African Digital Rights Network, Editor of African Journalism Studies, and Associate Editor of Communication Theory and the Journal of Communication.

 14 May 2024
 12:45 - 14:00 SAST
  CSSR Seminar Room, 4.29 Robert Leslie Social Science Building, UCT

Hosted by the Centre for Social Science Research and the Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa