Professor Tanja Bosch

Professor of Media Studies and Production

Professor Tanja Bosch 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); co-editor of Digital Citizenship in Africa (Zed Books, 2023), and Digital Feminist Citizenship in Africa (Bloomsbury, 2025); as well co-editor of the Routledge Companion to Social Media and Politics (2nd edition, forthcoming). Her research includes work on decolonising digital methods, digital citizenship, and social media culture and activism. She is currently involved in projects researching social media apps and digital intimacies, AI in teaching and learning, and decolonising media and communication research. Professor Bosch is the Editor of African Journalism Studies and Associate Editor of Communication Theory. She is also Chairperson of the African Digital Rights Network (https://www.africandigitalrightsnetwork.org/) and she currently holds the position of National Research Foundation South African Research (SARChI) Chair in Digital Media Sociology.

Prof Bosch is an NRF B-rated scholar.

 

https://www.routledge.com/Social-Media-and-Everyday-Life-in-South-Africa/Bosch/p/book/9780367280796

Selected Recent Publications:

 Books

Roberts, T, and Bosch, T. (eds). (2025) Feminist Digital Citizenship in Africa (Bloomsbury Academic).

Bruns, A, Gunn, E, Larsson, A, Robinson, J, Bosch, T. (eds) (2026 forthcoming). Routledge Companion to Social Media and Politics, second edition.

Journal articles

Bosch, T. 2026. Epistemic Asymmetries: Rethinking Culture, Theory, and Method From the South. Journalism & Communication Monographs, 28(1), 33-38.

Bosch, T. 2025. From Airwaves to Algorithmic Soundscapes: Sonic Citizenship in an Age of Populism and War. RadioDoc Review, 10(2).

Nkoala, S., Matsilele, T, Ndlovu, M, and Bosch, T. 2025. AI Hype Through an African Lens: A Critical Analysis of Language as Symbolic Action in Online News Publications. In Digital Journalismhttps://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2025.2528052

Iqani, M. and Bosch, T. 2025. The Politics of Privilege when Hiking the South African Wild Coast. Journal ofEcotourism. https://doi.org/10.1080/14724049.2025.2531034

Schoon, A., Smit, A., Uzuegbunam, C. and Bosch, T. 2025. Adoption and Perceptions of Generative AI Among South African Academics. Journal of Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2025.2571911

Bosch, T. 2025. Decolonisation is not a vibe: On Anti-Capitalist Praxis, Citation Politics, and Epistemic Refusal. Media, Culture and Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437251360382

Peer-reviewed book chapters

Bosch, T. (2026. Redefining digital audience research: Perspectives and Practices from the global South. In Decolonising Approaches to Users and Audiences in the Global South: Context, Theory and Method. Edited by Tarik Sabry, Winston Mano, Andrea Medrado. Routledge. p.71-87.

Bosch, T. (2025). Researching Political Communication on WhatsApp: reflections on method. In WhatsApp in the World: Disinformation, Encryption, and Extreme Speech. Edited by Sahana Udupa and Herman Wasserman. NYU Press. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479833306.001.0001

Bosch, T. and Iqani, M. (2026, in press). Media-Walking as Method for Media, Communications and Cultural Studies. In More Mundane Methods edited by Sarah Hall and Helen Holmes. Manchester University Press (forthcoming).

Bosch, T. (2026) Redefining digital audience research: Perspectives and practices from the global South. InDecolonising users and audiences in the global South: Context, theory and method.Edited by Winston Mano, Tariq Sabry and Anrea Medrado. Routledge.

Bosch, T. and Davies-Laubscher, N. Chapter 8. (2026). Promoting local voices: A content analysis of print community newspapers in South Africa. in Media on the margins in South Africa. Edited by Franz Kruger, Sarah Chiumbu and Herman Wasserman. Palgrave.

Bosch, T. Chapter 12. Epistemic Decolonization of Digital Media (Research) in the Global South. In Southern Digitalities (forthcoming). Edited by Clovis Bergere and Marwan Kraidy. Illinois University Press.