Side@Ways
Subtitle: mobile margins and the dynamics of communication in Africa
By: edited by Mirjam de Bruijn, Inge Brinkman & Francis Nyamnjoh
Publisher: Langaa Research and Publishing Common Initiative Group; African Studies Centre
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Mankon, Bamenda; Leiden
Language: eng
Number of pages: 202
ISBN-13: 9789956728763
Subjects: Cell phone systems; Mobile communication systems; Telecommunication
Other titles: Sideways
Description: Marginality does not mean isolation. In Africa where people are permanently on the move in search, inter alia, of a ëbetter elsewhereí, marginality means disconnection to obvious possibilities and the invisibility of the myriad connections that make life possible for the ordinarily sidestepped. This book is about the workings of networks of the mobile in Africa, a continent usually associated with the ëglobal shadowsí of the world. How do changes in the possibilities for communication, with the recent hype of mobile technology, influence the social and economic dynamics in Africaís mobile margins? To what extent is the freedom associated with new Information and Communication Technologies reality or disillusion for people dwelling in the margins? Are ordinary Africans increasingly Side@Ways? How social are these emergent Side@Ways? Contributions to answering these and related questions are harvested from ethnographic insights by team members of the WOTRO funded ëMobile Africa revisitedí research programme hosted by the African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Notes: At head of title: Langaa & African Studies Centre.

Includes bibliographical references.

Articles in English (5) and French (4).