Research project
Youth, Media and Protest: Histories of Engaging in Central African politics and social life
How do old and new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) relate to new social and political movements in Central Africa? What does this tell us about Africa and the Information Age?
- Duration
- 2012 - 2017
- Contact
- Mirjam de Bruijn
- Funding
-
NWO VICI
Are we observing the sub-Saharan spring? How do old and new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) relate to new social and political movements in Central Africa? In this project I follow young men and women who have a clear social change agenda. They are artists, human rights activists and social entrepreneurs in Cameroon and Chad.
New political and social uprisings in West and Central Africa seem to announce a new era in politics from below in several African countries. In this project I follow some of the central players in social and political change in Central Africa, notably Chad and Cameroon.
In this project, I try to understand their present day prominent role in society in relation to their life histories. In these life histories or biographies special emphasis is given to access to information. The hypothesis is that through the changes in possibilities to access information (i.e. through ICTs) people develop new ways to be engaged. It is an approach that challenges the discussion about Africa and the Information age. In this study I follow artists, human rights activists and social entrepreneurs in Cameroun and Chad.
